Polynucleotides and their use for detecting resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B and related compounds

ABSTRACT

The present invention pertains to polynucleotides derived from staphylococcal genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B and chemically related compounds. This invention also relates to the use of the polynucleotides as oligonucleotide primers or probes for detecting Staphylococcal strains that are resistant to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B and related compounds in a biological sample. In another embodiment, the present invention is directed to the full length coding sequences of the staphylococcal genes encoding for resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B from Staphylococcus and to the polypeptide expressed by these full length coding sequences. Further, this invention relates to the use of the expressed polypeptides to produce specific monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that serve as detection means in order to characterize any staphylococcal strain carrying genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application hereby claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application S.No. 60/050,380, filed Jun. 20, 1997. The entire disclosure of this application is relied upon and incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention pertains to polynucleotides derived from staphylococcal genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B and chemically related compounds. This invention also relates to the use of the polynucleotides as oligonucleotide primers or probes for detecting Staphylococcal strains that are resistant to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B and related compounds in a biological sample.

[0003] In another embodiment, the present invention is directed to the full length coding sequences of the staphylococcal genes encoding for resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B from Staphylococcus and to the polypeptides expressed by these full length coding sequences.

[0004] Further, this invention relates to the use of the expressed polypeptides to produce specific monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that serve as detection means in order to characterize any staphylococcal strain carrying genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B.

[0005] The present invention is also directed to diagnostic methods for detecting specific strains of Staphylococcus expected to be contained in a biological sample. The diagnostic methods use the oligonucleotide probes and primers as well as the antibodies of the invention.

[0006] Streptogramins and related compounds (antibiotics) produced by streptomycetes can be classified as A and B compounds according to their basic primary structures (Cocito, 1979). Compounds of the A group, including streptogramin A (SgA), pristinamycin IIA (PIIA), virginiamycin M, mikamycin A, or synergistin A, are polyunsaturated cyclic macrolactones. Compounds of the B group, including streptogramin B (SgB), pristinamycin B (PIB), virginiamycin S, mikamycin B, and synergistin B, are cyclic peptidic macrolactones (Cocito, 1979). Compounds of both groups, A and B, bind different targets in the peptidyltransferase domain of the 50S ribosomal subunit and inhibit protein elongation at different steps (Aumercier et al., 1992; Di Giambattista et al., 1989).

[0007] A decrease in the dissociation constant of PIB is observed in the presence of PIIA because this latter antibiotic provokes a conformational modification of the bacterial ribosome at the binding sites of these molecules. Thus, A and B compounds, which are bacteribstatic when used separately, act synergistically when combined and become bactericidal, mainly against Gram-positive bacteria.

[0008] Natural mixtures such as pristinamycin (Pt), synergistin, virginiamycin and mikamycin, are used orally and topically. A semi-synthetic injectable streptogramin, RP59500, consisting of a mixture of derivatives of A and B compounds (Dalfopristin and Quinupristin, respectively) is currently undergoing in vivo experimental and. clinical trials (J. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 30 (Suppl. A), entire volume, 1992; Entenza et al., 1995; Fantin et al., 1995; Griswold et, al., 1996; Torralba et al., 1995). Staphylococcal resistance to synergistic mixtures of A and B compounds (Pt MIC≧2 μg/ml) is always associated with resistance to A compounds (PIIA MIC≧8 μg/ml), but not necessarily with resistance to B compounds (Allignet et al., 1996).

[0009] To date, four genes encoding resistance to A compounds have been isolated from staphylococcal and enterococcal plasmids. The genes vat (Allignet et al., 1993), vatB (Allignet and El Solh, 1995), and sata (Rende-Fournier et al., 1993) encode related acetyltransferases (50.4-58.3% amino acids), which inactivate streptogramin A and similar compounds. The staphylococcal gene vga (Allignet et al., 1992) encodes an ATP-binding protein probably involved in the active efflux of A compounds. Nevertheless, there continues to exist a need in the art for polynucleotides specific for Staphylococcus resistant to streptogramin A and/or B and related compounds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Accordingly, this invention aids in fulfilling this need in the art. In particular, this invention provides a purified peptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of:

[0011] a) SEQ ID NO: 4 which corresponds to the complete amino acid sequence of Vga B or fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 4 containing at least 10 amino acids;

[0012] b) SEQ ID NO: 5 which corresponds to the complete amino acid sequence of Vat C or fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 5 containing at least 10 amino acids;

[0013] c) SEQ ID NO: 6 which corresponds to the complete amino acid sequence of Vgb B or fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 6 containing at least 10 amino acids;

[0014] d) SEQ ID NO: 7 which corresponds to a fragment of the amino acid sequence of Vgb B;

[0015] e) SEQ ID NO: 8 which corresponds to a fragment of the amino acid sequence of Vga B;

[0016] f) SEQ ID NO: 9 which corresponds to a fragment of the amino acid sequence of Vat C; and

[0017] g) SEQ ID NO: 10 which corresponds to a fragment of the amino acid sequence of Vat C.

[0018] This invention additionally provides a purified polynucleotide comprising the nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:

[0019] a) SEQ ID NO: 1 which corresponds to the complete nucleic acid sequence of vga B or fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 1 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides;

[0020] b) SEQ ID NO: 2 which corresponds to the complete nucleic acid sequence of vat C or fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 2 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides;

[0021] c) SEQ ID NO: 3 which corresponds to the complete nucleic acid sequence of vgb B or fragments derived from SEQ ID NO: 3 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides;

[0022] d) SEQ ID NO: 11 which corresponds to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 7;

[0023] e) SEQ ID NO: 12 which corresponds to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8;

[0024] f) SEQ ID NO: 13 which corresponds to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 9; and

[0025] g) SEQ ID NO: 14 which corresponds to the nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 10.

[0026] Furthermore, this invention includes a purified peptide comprising the amino acid sequence encoded by the nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:

[0027] a) SEQ ID NO: 1,

[0028] b) SEQ ID NO: 2,

[0029] c) SEQ ID NO: 3,

[0030] d) SEQ ID NO: 11,

[0031] e) SEQ ID NO: 12,

[0032] f) SEQ ID NO: 13, and

[0033] g) SEQ ID NO: 14.

[0034] This invention also provides a composition comprising purified polynucleotide sequences including at least one nucleotide sequence of the genes selected from the group consisting of polypeptides or genes or cDNA of vgaB, vatC, and vgbB, which are useful for the detection of resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B and related compounds.

[0035] In another embodiment, this invention provides a composition of polynucleotide sequences encoding resistance to streptogramins and related compounds, or inducing this resistance in Gram-positive bacteria, wherein the composition comprises a combination of at least two of the following nucleotide sequences: a) a nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, b) a nucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds; and c) a nucleotide sequence encoding a lactonase conferring resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds.

[0036] Furthermore, this invention provides a composition of polynucleotide sequences, wherein the sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs confers resistance to Staphylococci and particularly to S. aureus, and wherein the polynucleotide sequence corresponds to a vgaB nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 or a sequence having at least 70% homology with vgaB complete nucleotide sequence, or to a polynucleotide hybridizing with SEQ ID NO: 1 under stringent conditions, or to a fragment containing between 20 and 30 nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 11 or SEQ ID NO: 12, or wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having at least 60% homology with the complete SEQ ID NO: 4 or with SEQ ID NO: 7 or SEQ ID NO: 8.

[0037] Furthermore this invention relates to a composition of polynucleotide sequences, wherein the sequence encoding an acetyltransferase confers resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds in Staphylococci, and particularly in S. cohnii, and wherein the polynucleotide sequence corresponds to a vatc nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 or a sequence having at least 70% homology with vatC complete nucleotide sequence, or to a polynucleotide hybridizing with SEQ ID NO: 2 under stringent conditions, or to a fragment containing between 20 and 30 nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 13 or SEQ ID NO: 14, or wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having at least 60% homology with the complete SEQ ID NO: 5 or with SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 10.

[0038] This invention also provides a composition of polynucleotide sequences, wherein the sequence encoding a lactonase confers resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds in Staphylococci and particularly in S. cohnii, and wherein the polynucleotide sequence corresponds to a vgbB nucleotide sequence represented in SEQ ID NO: 3 or a sequence having at least 70% homology with vgbB complete nucleotide sequence, or to a polynucleotide hybridizing with SEQ ID NO: 3 under stringent conditions, or to a fragment containing between 20 and 40 nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 3, or wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having at least 60% homology with the complete SEQ ID NO: 6.

[0039] The invention also contemplates a composition of polynucleotide sequences, wherein at least a vatB nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds is included in addition to a vgaB nucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs conferring resistance to streptogramin A.

[0040] Additionally, the invention includes a purified polynucleotide that hybridizes specifically under stringent conditions with a polynucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 13, and SEQ ID NO: 14.

[0041] The invention further includes polynucleotide fragments comprising at least 10 nucleotides capable of hybridization under stringent conditions with any one of the nucleotide sequences enumerated above.

[0042] In another embodiment of the invention, a recombinant DNA sequence comprising at least one nucleotide sequence enumerated above and under the control of regulatory elements that regulate the expression of resistance to antibiotics of the streptogramin family in a defined host is provided.

[0043] Furthermore, the invention includes a recombinant vector comprising the recombinant DNA sequence noted above, wherein the vector comprises the plasmid pIP1633 or plasmid pIP1714.

[0044] The invention also includes a recombinant cell host comprising a polynucleotide sequence enumerated above or the recombinant vector defined above.

[0045] In still a further embodiment of the invention, a method of detecting bacterial strains that contain the polynucleotide sequences set forth above is provided.

[0046] Additionally, the invention includes kits for the detection of the presence of bacterial strains that contain the polynucleotide sequences set forth above.

[0047] The invention also contemplates antibodies recognizing lpeptide fragments or polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotide sequences enumerated above.

[0048] Still further, the invention provides for a screening method for active antibiotics and/or molecules for the treatment of infections due to Gram-positive bacteria, particularly staphylococci, based on the detection of activity of these antibiotics and/or molecules on bacteria having the resistance phenotype to streptogramins.

[0049] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] This invention will be more fully described with reference to the drawings in which:

[0051]FIG. 1A and 1B are the restriction maps of the 5.5 kb BglII fragment and of the 2.4 kb HindIII-HaeIII fragment of pIP1633, respectively. Both fragments confer resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds. The strategy for sequencing the 2.4 kb abbreviations: Ba, BamHI; Bg, BgIII; E, EcoRI; H. HindIII; X, XbaI.

[0052]FIG. 2 is the nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of 2411 nucleotides from pIP1633, which contains the gene vgaB of S. aureus conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds. The putative ribosome binding site (RBS) is underlined. The amino acids are aligned with the second nucleotide of each codon. Asterisks indicate the in-frame stop codons. The A and B ATP-binding motifs described by Walker et al. (1982) and detected within each of the two ATP-domains are boxed. The conserved motif SGG of the two copies of loop 3 described by Hyde et al. (1990) is underlined. Relevant restriction sites are shown.

[0053]FIG. 3 is the amino acid sequence alignment of the predicted 60 and 61 kDa proteins encoded by Vga (Allignet et al., 1992, accession No: m90056) and VgaB (FIG. 2), respectively. Identical residues are indicated by asterisks and conservative changes are shown by single dots. The A and B motifs of Walker et al. (1982) are in bold type (WA, WB). The conserved motif SGG of the two copies of loop 3 described by Hyde et al. (1990) is underlined.

[0054]FIG. 4 is a restriction map of the plasmid pIP1714 carrying the genes vatC and vgbB as well as the genes pre and repB of S. cohnii strain BM10711 resistant to the synergistic mixtures of streptogramins A and B.

[0055]FIG. 5 is the nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of 1727 nucleotide from pIP1714, which contains the gene vgbB and vatc of S. cohnii. Relevant restriction sites are shown.

[0056]FIG. 6 A, 6B, and 6C represent oligonucleotide primers for hybridization under stringent conditions with vatC, vgbB, and vgaB respectively.

[0057]FIG. 7 represents SEQ ID NOs: 1-14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0058] It has now been determined that bacteria from the Staphylococcus genus carry a vgaB gene, which encodes a putative ATP-binding protein that confers resistance to streptogramin A and structurally similar compounds. It has also now been determined that bacteria from the Staphylococcus genus carry a vgbB gene, which encodes a lactonase that confers resistance to streptogramin B and structurally similar compounds, and a vatC gene, which encodes an acetyltransferase that confers resistance to streptogramin A and structurally similar compounds.

[0059] Novel polynucleotides corresponding to the vgaB, vgbB, and vatC genes from various strains of Staphylococcus have been isolated and sequenced, and it has been surprisingly demonstrated that these new polynucleotides make it possible to design oligonucleotide probes or primers. These polynucleotides include the following:

[0060] a) SEQ ID NO: 1,

[0061] b) SEQ ID NO: 2,

[0062] c) SEQ ID NO: 3,

[0063] d) SEQ ID NO: 11,

[0064] e) SEQ ID NO: 12,

[0065] f) SEQ ID NO: 13, and

[0066] g) SEQ ID NO: 14.

[0067] This invention provides specific pairs of oligonucleotide primers or probes that hybridize specifically, under stringent hybridization conditions as defined hereinafter, to the nucleic acid (RNA or DNA) from a particular strain of the Staphylococcus genus. These oligonucleotide primers include the following: Oligo I 5′`AAGTCGACTGACAATATGAGTGGTGG-3′ Oligo II 5′-CTGCAGATGCCTCAACAGCATCGATATCC-3′ Oligo III 5′-ATGAATTCGCAAATCAGCAAGG-3′ Oligo IV 5′-TCGTCTCGAGCTCTAGGTCC-3′ Oligo V 5′-CAGCAGTCTAGATCAGAGTGG-3′ Oligo VI 5′-CATACGGATCCACCTTTTCC-3′.

[0068] In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the purified polynucleotides useful for detecting Staphylococcal strains can be used in combination in order to detect bacteria belonging to Staphylococci in a biological sample. Thus, the present invention also provides detection methods and kits comprising combinations of the purified polynucleotides according to the invention. The purified oligonucleotides of the invention are also useful as primers for use in amplification reactions or as nucleic acid probes.

[0069] By “polynucleotides” according to the invention is meant the sequences referred to as SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, OR 11, 12, 13, 14 and the complementary sequences and/or the sequences of polynucleotides which hybridize to the referred sequences in high stringent conditions and which are used for detecting staphylococcal strains carrying a gene encoding resistance to streptogramin A or to streptogramin B.

[0070] By “active molecule” according to the invention is meant a molecule capable of inhibiting the activity of the purified polypeptide as defined in the present invention or capable of inhibiting the bacterial culture of staphylococcal strains.

[0071] Thus, the polynucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 and their fragments can be used to select nucleotide primers notably for an amplification reaction, such as the amplification reactions further described.

[0072] PCR is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,202 granted to Cetus Corp. The.amplified fragments may be identified by agarose or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, or by a capillary electrophoresis, or alternatively by a chromatography technique (gel filtration, hydrophobic chromatography, or ion exchange chromatography). The specificity of the amplification can be ensured by a molecular hybridization using as nucleic probes the polynucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 and their fragments, oligonucleotides that are complementary to these polynucleotides or fragments thereof, or their amplification products themselves.

[0073] Amplified nucleotide fragments are useful as probes in hybridization reactions in order to detect the presence of one polynucleotide according to the present invention or in order to detect the presence of a bacteria of Staph ylococcal strain carrying genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A or streptogramin B, in a biological sample. This invention also provides the amplified nucleic acid fragments (“amplicons”) defined herein above. These probes and amplicons can be radioactively or non-radioactively labeled, using for example enzymes or fluorescent compounds.

[0074] Preferred nucleic acid fragments that can serve as primers according to the present invention are the following:

[0075] polynucleotides of sequence SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14; and

[0076] polynucleotides having a length from 20 to 30 consecutive nucleotides from a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of polynucleotides of sequences SEQ ID NO: 11 to SEQ ID NO: 14 or from 20 to 40 consecutive nucleotides from a polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 3

[0077] The primers can also be used as oligonucleotide probes to specifically detect a polynucleotide according to the invention.

[0078] Other techniques related to nucleic acid amplification can also be used and are generally preferred to the PCR technique. The Strand Displacement Amplification (SDA) technique (Walker et al., 1992) is an isothermal amplification technique based on the ability of a restriction enzyme to cleave one of the strands at a recognition site (which is under a hemiphosphorothioate form), and on the property of a DNA polymerase to initiate the synthesis of a new strand from the 3′ OH end generated by the restriction enzyme and on the property of this DNA polymerase to displace the previously synthesized strand being localized downstream.

[0079] The SDA amplification technique is more easily performed than PCR (a single thermostated water bath device is necessary), and is faster than the other amplification methods. Thus, the present invention also comprises using the nucleic acid fragments according to the invention (primers) in a method of DNA or RNA amplification according to the SDA technique. The polynucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 and their fragments, especially the primers according to the invention, are useful as technical means for performing different target nucleic acid amplification methods such as:

[0080] TAS (Transcription-based Amplification System), described by Kwoh et al. in 1989;

[0081] SR (Self-Sustained Sequence Replication), described by Guatelli et al. in 1990;

[0082] NASBA (Nucleic acid Sequence Based Amplification), described by Kievitis et al. in 1991; and

[0083] TMA (Transcription Mediated Amplification).

[0084] The polynucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 and their fragments, especially the primers according to the invention, are also useful as technical means for performing methods for amplification or modification of a nucleic acid used as a probe, such as:

[0085] LCR (Ligase Chain Reaction), described by Landegren et al. in 1988 and improved by Barany et al. in 1991, who employ a thermostable ligase;

[0086] RCR (Repair Chain Reaction), described by Segev et al. in 1992;

[0087] CPR (Cycling Probe Reaction), described by Duck et al. in 1990; and

[0088] Q-beta replicase reaction, described by Miele et al. in 1983 and improved by Chu et al. in 1986, Lizardi et al. in 1988, and by Burg et al. and Stone et al. in 1996.

[0089] When the target polynucleotide to be detected is RNA, for example mRNA, a reverse transcriptase enzyme can be used before the amplification reaction in order to obtain a cDNA from the RNA contained in the biological sample. The generated cDNA can be subsequently used as the nucleic acid target for the primers or the probes used in an amplification process or a detection process according to the present invention.

[0090] Nucleic probes according to the present invention are specific to detect a polynucleotide of the invention. By “specific probes” according to the invention is meant any oligonucleotide that hybridizes with one polynucleotide of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 and which does not hybridize with unrelated sequences. Preferred oligonucleotide probes according to the invention are oligonucleotides I-VI.

[0091] In a specific embodiment, the purified polynucleotides according to the present invention encompass polynucleotides having at least 80% homology in their nucleic acid sequences with polynucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 11 to SEQ ID NO: 14, at least 70% identity with SEQ ID NO: 1 to 3. By percentage of nucleotide homology according to the present invention is intended a percentage of identity between the corresponding bases of two homologous polynucleotides, this percentage of identity being purely statistical and the differences between two homologous polynucleotides being located at random and on the whole length of said polynucleotides.

[0092] The oligonucleotide probes according to the present invention hybridize specifically with a DNA or RNA molecule comprising all or part of one polynucleotide among SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 under stringent conditions. As an illustrative embodiment, the stringent hybridization conditions used in order to specifically detect a polynucleotide according to the present invention are advantageously the following:

[0093] Prehybridization and hybridization are performed at 68° C. in a mixture containing:

[0094] 5×SSPE (1×SSPE is 0.3 M NaCl, 30 mM tri-sodium citrate

[0095] 5× Denhardt's solution

[0096] 0.5% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS); and

[0097] 100 μg ml⁻¹ salmon sperm DNA

[0098] The washings are performed as follows:

[0099] Two washings at laboratory temperature for 10 min. in the presence of 2×SSPE and 0.1% SDS;

[0100] One washing at 68° C. for 15 min. in the presence of 1×SSPE, 0.1% SDS; and

[0101] One washing at 68° C. for 15 min. in the presence of 0.1×SSPE and 0.1% SDS.

[0102] The non-labeled polynucleotides or oligonucleotides of the invention can be directly used as probes. Nevertheless, the polynucleotides or oligonucleotides are generally labeled with a radioactive element (³²p, ³⁵S, ³H, ¹²⁵I) or by a non-isotopic molecule (for example, biotin, acetylaminofluorene, digoxigenin, 5-bromodesoxyuridin, fluorescein) in order to generate probes that are useful for numerous applications. Examples of non-radioactive labeling of nucleic acid fragments are described in the French Patent No. FR 78 10975 or by Urdea et al. or Sanchez-Pescador et al. 1988.

[0103] Other labeling techniques can also be used, such as those described in the French patents 2 422 956 and 2 518 755. The hybridization step may be performed in different ways (Matthews et al. 1988). A general method comprises immobilizing the nucleic acid that has been extracted from the biological sample on a substrate (nitrocellulose, nylon, polystyrene) and then incubating, in defined conditions, the target nucleic acid with the probe. Subsequent to the hybridization step, the excess amount of the specific probe is discarded, and the hybrid molecules formed are detected by an appropriate method (radioactivity, fluorescence, or enzyme activity measurement).

[0104] Advantageously, the probes according to the present invention can have structural characteristics such that they allow signal amplification, such structural characteristics being, for example, branched DNA probes as those described by Urdea et al. in 1991 or in the European Patent No. 0 225 807 (Chiron).

[0105] In another advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the probes described herein can be used as “capture probes”, and are for this purpose immobilized on a substrate in order to capture the target nucleic acid contained in a biological sample. The captured target nucleic acid is subsequently detected with a second probe, which recognizes a sequence of the target nucleic acid that is different from the sequence recognized by the capture probe.

[0106] The oligonucleotide fragments useful as probes or primers according to the present invention can be prepared by cleavage of the polynucleotides of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 by restriction enzymes, as described in,Sambrook et al. in 1989. Another appropriate preparation process of the nucleic acids of the invention containing at most 200 nucleotides (or 200 bp if these molecules are double-stranded) comprises the following steps:

[0107] synthesizing DNA using the automated method of beta-cyanethylphosphoramidite described in 1986;

[0108] cloning the thus obtained nucleic acids in an appropriate vector; and

[0109] purifying the nucleic acid by hybridizing to an appropriate probe according to the present invention.

[0110] A chemical method for producing the nucleic acids according to the invention, which have a length of more than 200 nucleotides (or 200 bp if these molecules are double-stranded), comprises the following steps:

[0111] Assembling the chemically synthesized oligonucleotides having different restriction sites at each end;

[0112] cloning the thus obtained nucleic acids in an appropriate vector; and

[0113] purifying the nucleic acid by hybridizing to an appropriate probe according to the present invention.

[0114] The oligonucleotide probes according to the present invention can also be used in a detection device comprising a matrix library of probes immobilized on a substrate, the sequence of each probe of a given length being localized in a shift of one or several bases, one from the other, each probe of the matrix library thus being complementary to a distinct sequence of the target nucleic acid. Optionally, the substrate of the matrix can be a material able to act as an electron donor, the detection of the matrix positions in which hybridization has occurred being subsequently determined by an electronic device. Such matrix libraries of probes and methods of specific detection of a target nucleic acid are described in the European patent application No. 0 713 016, or PCT Application No. WO 95 33846, or also PCT Application No. WO 95 11995 (Affymax Technologies), PCT Application No. WO 97 02357 (Affymetrix Inc.), and also in U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,231 (Drmanac), said patents and patent applications being herein incorporated by reference.

[0115] The present invention also pertains to a family of recombinant plasmids containing at least a nucleic acid according to the invention. According to an advantageous embodiment, a recombinant plasmid comprises a polynucleotide of SEQ ID NOs: 1-3 and 11-14 or one nucleic fragment thereof. More specifically, the following plasmids are part of the invention: pIP1633 and pIP1714.

[0116] The present invention is also directed to the full length coding sequences of the vgab, vgbB, and vatC genes from Staphylococci that are available using the purified polynucleotides according to the present invention, as well as to the polypeptide enzymes encoded by these full length coding sequences. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the full length coding sequences of the vgaB, vgbB, and vatC genes are isolated from a plasmid or cosmid library of the genome of Staphylococci that have been screened with the oligonucleotide probes according to the present invention. The selected positive plasmid or cosmid clones hybridizing with the oligonucleotide probes of the invention are then sequenced in order to characterize the corresponding full length coding sequence, and the DNA insert of interest is then cloned in an expression vector in order to produce the corresponding ATP binding motif conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, or lactonase conferring resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds.

[0117] A suitable vector for the expression in bacteria and in particular in E. coli, is the pQE-30 vector (QIAexpress) that allows the production of a recombinant protein containing a 6× His affinity tag. The 6× His tag is placed at the C-terminus of the recombinant polypeptide ATP binding motif conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds or lactonase conferring resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds, which allows a subsequent efficient purification of the recombinant polypeptide ATP binding motif conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, or lactonase conferring resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds by passage onto a nickel or copper affinity chromatography column. The nickel chromatography column can contain the Ni-NTA resin (Porath et al. 1975).

[0118] The polypeptides according to the invention can also be prepared by conventional methods of chemical synthesis, either in a homogenous solution or in solid phase. As an illustrative embodiment of such chemical polypeptide synthesis techniques the homogenous solution technique described by Houbenweyl in 1974 may be cited.

[0119] The polypeptides according to the invention can be characterized by binding onto an immunoaffinity chromatography column on which polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies directed to a polypeptide among the ATP binding motif conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, or lactonase conferring resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds of the invention have previously been immobilized.

[0120] Another object of the present invention comprises a polypeptide produced by the genetic engineering techniques or a polypeptide synthesized chemically as above described.

[0121] The polypeptide ATP binding motif conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, acetyltransferase conferring resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds, or lactonase conferring resistance to streptogramin B and related compounds according to the present invention are useful for the preparation of polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies that recognize the polypeptides or fragments thereof. The monoclonal antibodies can be prepared from hybridomas according to the technique described by Kohler and Milstein in 1975. The polyclonal antibodies can be prepared by immunization of a mammal, especially a mouse or a rabbit, with a polypeptide according to the invention that is combined with an adjuvant, and then by purifying specific antibodies contained in the serum of the immunized animal on a affinity chromatography column on which has previously been immobilized the polypeptide that has been used as the antigen.

[0122] Consequently, the invention is also directed to a method for detecting specifically the presence of a polypeptide according to the invention in a biological sample. The method comprises:

[0123] a) bringing into contact the biological sample with an antibody according to the invention; and

[0124] b) detecting antigen-antibody complex formed.

[0125] Also part of the invention is a diagnostic kit for in vitro detecting the presence of a polypeptide according to the present invention in a biological sample. The kit comprises:

[0126] a polyclonal or monoclonal antibody as described above, optionally labeled; and

[0127] a reagent allowing the detection of the antigen-antibody complexes formed, wherein the reagent carries optionally a label, or being able to be recognized itself by a labeled reagent, more particularly in the case when the above-mentioned monoclonal or polyclonal antibody is not labeled by itself.

[0128] Indeed, the monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies according to the present invention are useful as detection means in order to identify or characterize a Staphylococcal strain carrying genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A or streptogramin B.

[0129] The invention also pertains to:

[0130] A purified polypeptide or a peptide fragment having at least 10 amino acids, which is recognized by antibodies directed against a polynucleotide sequence conferring resistance to streptogramin and related compounds, corresponding to a polynucleotide sequence according to the invention.

[0131] A polynucleotide comprising the full length coding sequence of a Staphylococcus streptogramin A and/or B resistant gene containing a polynucleotide sequence according to the invention.

[0132] A monoclonal or polyclonal antibody directed against a polypeptide or a peptide fragment encoded by the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention.

[0133] A method of detecting the presence of bacterium harboring the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention in a biological sample comprising:

[0134] a) contacting bacterial DNA of the biological sample with a primer or a probe according to the invention, which hybridizes with a nucleotide sequence encoding resistance to streptogramins;

[0135] b) amplifying the nucleotide sequence using said primer or said probe; and

[0136] c) detecting the hybridized complex formed between said primer or probe with the DNA.

[0137] A kit for detecting the presence of bacterium having resistance to streptogramin A and/or streptogramin B and harboring the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention in a biological sample, said kit comprising:

[0138] a) a polynucleotide probe according to the invention; and

[0139] b) reagents necessary to perform a nucleic acid hybridization reaction.

[0140] A kit for detecting the presence of bacterium having resistance to streptogramin A and harboring the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention in a biological sample, said kit comprising:

[0141] a) a polynucleotide probe according to the invention; and

[0142] b) reagents necessary to perform a nucleic acid hybridization reaction.

[0143] A method of screening active antibiotics for the treatment of the infections due to Gram-positive bacteria, comprising the steps of:

[0144] a) bringing into contact a Gram-positive bacteria having a resistance to streptogramin A or streptogramin B and related compounds and containing the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention with the antibiotic; and

[0145] b) measuring an activity of the antibiotic on the bacteria having a resistance to streptogramins and related compounds.

[0146] A method of screening for active synthetic molecules capable of penetrating into a bacteria of the family of staphylococci, wherein the inhibiting activity of these molecules is tested on at least a polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention comprising the steps of:

[0147] a) contacting a sample of said active molecules with the bacteria;

[0148] b) testing the capacity of the active molecules to penetrate into the bacteria and the capacity of inhibiting a bacterial culture at various concentration of the molecules; and

[0149] c) choosing the active molecule that provides an inhibitory effect of at least 80% on the bacterial culture compared to an untreated culture.

[0150] An in vitro method of screening for active molecules capable of inhibiting a polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention, wherein the inhibiting activity of these molecules is tested on at least said polypeptide, said method comprising the steps of:

[0151] a) extracting a purified polypeptide according to the invention;

[0152] b) contacting the active molecules with said purified polypeptide;

[0153] c) testing the capacity of the active molecules, at various concentrations, to inhibit the activity of the purified polypeptide; and

[0154] d) choosing the active molecule that provides an inhibitory effect of at least 80% on the activity of the said purified polypeptide.

[0155] A composition of a polynucleotide sequence encoding resistance to streptogramins and related compounds, or inducing resistance in Gram-positive bacteria, wherein said composition comprises a nucleotide sequence corresponding to the resistance phenotype of the plasmid pIP1633 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under the Accession No. I-1768 and of the plasmid pIP1680 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under the Accession No. I-1767 and of the plasmid pIP1714 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under the number I-1877 on Jun. 18, 1997.

[0156] A method of detecting the presence of bacterium harboring the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention in a biological sample, said method comprising the steps of:

[0157] a) contacting said sample with an antibody according to the invention that recognizes a polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide sequences; and

[0158] b) detecting said complex.

[0159] A diagnostic kit for in vitro detecting the presence of bacterium harboring the polynucleotide sequences according to the invention in a biological sample, said kit comprising:

[0160] a) a predetermined quantity of monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies according to the invention;

[0161] b) reagents necessary to perform an immunological reaction between the antibodies and a polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide sequences; and

[0162] c) reagents necessary for detecting said complex between the antibodies and the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide sequences.

[0163] The inhibiting activity of the molecules can be readily evaluated by one skilled in the art. For example, the inhibiting activity of Vga B can be tested by detecting its ATP hydrolysis as described in J. I. Ross et al. (1990), Mol. Microbiol. 4(7):1207-1214 regarding the rate evaluation of the active efflux of antibiotics from a cell. Ross et al. use a different gene, but their gene product functions as a drug efflux pump in the same way as Vga B does.

[0164] The inhibiting activity of Vat C can be tested by visualizing the acetylation reaction as described in Allignet et al. (1993) regarding the mechanism of inactivation of A-type compounds conferred by plasmids pIP680 and pIP1156 by thick layer chromatography and NMR.

[0165] The inhibiting activity of Vgb B can be tested by detecting the degradation of streptogramin B or a related compound by a microbiological test as described in Allignet et al. (1988).

[0166] Plasmids containing the polynucleotides from Staphylococci, which confer streptogramin A and/or B resistance, are referred to herein by the following accession numbers: Plasmid Accession No. pIP1714 I-1877 pIP1633 I-1768 pIP680 I-1767

[0167] and they have been inserted into vectors which have been deposited at the Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes (“C.N.C.M.”) Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Docteur Roux, F-75724 Paris Cedex 15, France on Jun. 18, 1997, and Aug. 7, 1996, respectively.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Cloning of the vgaB Gene Carried by Plasmid pIP1633

[0168] pIP1633 was isolated from a S. aureus transconjugant strain, BM12235, obtained from the donor wild-type S. aureus strain, BM3385 (Allignet and El Solh, 1995). This plasmid carried the vatB gene located on a 5.5 BglII fragment, but the other described streptogramin A resistant (SgA^(r)) genes were not detected either by hybridization experiments or by PCR (Allignet and EI Solh, 1995). Since the gene vga was carried by all the tested staphylococcal plasmids containing the vat gene (Allignet et al., 1996), the presence of a vga-related gene was suspected in pIP1633. We therefore searched this gene in the recombinant plasmid, pIP1675 (FIG. 1A), containing the vatB-5.5 BglII fragment of pIP1633.

[0169] First, the 2.4 kb HindIII-Haelll fragment of pIP1675, which contains only 10 nucleotide from vatB, was inserted into plasmid pOX300, and the recombinant plasmid, pIP1717 (FIG. 1B), was introduced by electroporation into the S. aureus recipient, RN4220 (Kreiswirth et al., 1983). Plasmid pOX300, also named pOX7, (Dyke and Curnock, 1989), is a hybrid of pUC18 and pE194ts and replicates in E. coli where it confers resistance to ampicillin and to erythromycin, and in S. aureus where only resistance to erythromycin is expressed. The S. aureus transformants selected on 10 μg/ml erythromycin were resistant to streptogramin A and related compounds (PIIA MICs=8-16 μg/ml). Thus, the 2.4-kb HindIII-HaeIII insert of pIP1717 (FIG. 1B) probably carried a streptogramin A resistance gene and was sequenced. The nucleotide (nucleotide) sequence of this fragment was determined by the dideoxy method (Sanger et al., 1977) with the reagents and the procedure recommended by the suppliers of the T⁷sequencing kit (Pharmacia International). Arrows indicate the direction and extent of each dideoxy-sequencing reaction. (FIG. 1B).

Example 2 The Nucleotide Sequence of the vgaB Gene

[0170] The strategy of sequencing on both strands is outlined in FIG. 1 and the sequence of the 2411-bp HindIII-HaeIII insert is given in FIG. 2. An open reading frame (ORF) of 1674 nucleotide extending from nucleotide 682 to 2356 was detected on the same strand as vatB (FIG. 2). The 1674 nucleotide ORF contained an ATG start codon at nucleotide 700 to 702 and was preceded by an 8 nucleotide putative RBS. The ΔG (free energy of association) of interaction of the most stable structure between this putative RBS and the 3′-terminus of the 165 rRNA (MacLaughlin et al., 1981; Moran et al., 1982) calculated according to Tinoco et al. (1973) was −79.4 kJ/mol. The sequence located between the ATG codon and the TAA stop codon at nucleotide 2356 to 2358 may encode a 552 amino acid protein of 61,327 daltons (Da). This putative gene, named vgaB, had 58.8% nucleotide identity with the 1572 bp gene, vga (Allignet et al., 1992). The G+C content of vgaB (27.2%) is similar to that of vga (29%), but both values are slightly lower than those of the staphylococcal genome (32 to 36%) (KIoos and Schleifer, 1986). The nucleotide sequence of vgaB has been submitted to the GenBank/EMBL data bank under accession no. u82085.

Example 3 Amino Acid Sequence Analysis of VgaB

[0171] The predicted translation product of the vgaB gene, VgaB, has a calculated isoelectric point (pI) of 9.60. The hydropathy plot of the VgaB sequence according to the algorithm of Kyte and Doolittle (1982) indicates the protein to be hydrophilic. No similarity to known signal sequences of secreted proteins (von Heijne, 1986; Watson, 1984) was observed.

[0172] The amino acid sequence of VgaB was compared with the sequences available in databases (GenBank, release 97.0; EMBL, release 48; SwissProt, release 34). Significant similarity to the ATP-binding domains of numerous ATP-binding Cassette (ABC) proteins was found. The protein giving the best match was Vga (48.3% identical amino acid, 70.4% similar amino acid). VgaB and Vga each contain two ATP-binding domains sharing 38.8% and 39.1% identical amino acid, respectively. Each of these domains includes the two ATP-binding motifs described by Walker et al. (1982) (FIG. 2). Moreover, the highly conserved SGG sequence of loop 3 found between the two ATP-binding motifs of all investigated ATP-binding proteins (Barrasa et al., 1995; Hyde et al., 1990) was detected in Vga (Allignet et al., 1992) and VgaB (FIG. 2). According to the predicted tertiary structure of ABC model cassette, this loop would be conveniently located to interact with the cell membrane (Hyde et al., 1990). The inter-ATP-binding domain of VgaB is more rich in glutamine (11 Q in 155 amino acid total) than the rest of the sequence of the protein (11 Q/397 amino acid). In contrast, the proportion of glutamine in the inter-ATP-binding domain of Vga is similar to that in the other part of the protein (4 Q/156 amino acid and 14 Q/366 amino acid, respectively). Neither Vga nor VgaB contains hydrophobic transmembrane domains.

[0173] The ABC protein MsrA (Ross et al., 1990) is the most similar to Vga and VgaB (35.2% and 34.4% identical amino acid, respectively). MsrA confers resistance to erythromycin by increasing the efflux of this antibiotic and to streptogramin B by a mechanism not yet elucidated. MsrA contains two ATP-binding domains with 31.8% amino acid identity and separated by a Q-linker, but no hydrophobic stretches that might be potential membrane spanning domains. The hydrophobic proteins, which are expected to interact with MsrA, are those encoded by similar genes mapping near MsrA in two staphylococcal strains (smpA, smpB) and also those on the chromosome of the S. aureus recipient strain, RN4220 (smpC), which does not carry msrA (Ross et al., 1995). Ross et al. (1996) have recently reported that SmpC found in the chromosome of RN4220 is not essential for the expression of resistance to erythromycin conferred by MsrA. Thus, further experiments are required to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance conferred by msrA, vga, or vgaB genes.

[0174] Several ABC transporters, which do not have alternating hydrophobic domains, have been grouped in a subfamily in order to distinguish them from the members of the ABC₂ transporter subfamily, the members of which contain hydrophobic transmembrane domains (Barrasa et al., 1995; Olano et al., 1995; Peschke et al., 1995). Thus, VgaB may be considered as a new member of the former ABC transporter subfamily. Excluding VgaB, Vga, and MsrA, most of the known ABC transporters that contain two ATP-binding cassettes but no hydrophobic domain(s) were found in antibiotic or antibiotic producing microorganisms in which they are involved in the active excretion of these molecules. These transporters are encoded by the following genes: ard1, an amino-acylnucleoside antibiotic resistance gene from Streptomyces capreolus (Barrasa et al., 1995); carA, a carbomycin-resistance gene from Streptomyces thermotolerans (Schoner et al., 1992); ImrC, a lincomycin-resistance gene from Streptomyces lincolnensis (Peschke et al., 1995); oleB, an oleandomycin-resistance gene from Streptomyces antibioticus (0lano et al., 1995); srmB, a spiramycin-resistance gene from Streptomyces ambofaciens (Geistlich et al., 1992); t1rC, a tylosin-resistance gene from Streptomyces fradiae (Rosteck et al., 1991); and petT, a pep5 epidermin-resistance gene from Staphylococcus epidermidis (Meyer et al., 1995). The amino acid identity between each of these latter ABC transporters and VgaB is between 23.6% and 28.7%.

[0175] Degenerate primers designed from an analysis of the alignment of the amino acid sequence of Vga and VgaB may be helpful to detect such putative genes by PCR experiments. In the streptogramins producers, the described resistance to these antibiotics consists of streptogramin A inactivation by an as yet unknown mechanism (Fierro et al., 1989), streptogramin B inactivation by a lactonase (Kim et al., 1974) and putative increased export of streptogramin A and streptogramin B by an integral membrane protein, Ptr, exploiting transmembrane proton gradients (Blanc et al., 1995). The NMR spectra of the modified A compounds may be analyzed to verify if their inactivation in the antibiotic producers is similar to that due to the proteins Vat or VatB, which transfer an o-acetyl group to position C14.of PIIA (Allignet et al., 1993). Interestingly, the staphylococcal gene vgb (Allignet et al., 1988) found in most plasmids carrying vga and vat (Allignet et al., 1996), encodes a protein inactivating streptogramin B and related compounds by cleavage of the lactone ring.

Example 4 Distribution and Location of the vgaB Gene in 52 SgA^(R) and Independent Wild-Type Staphylococci

[0176] A recombinant plasmid containing a fragment of vgaB, pIP1705, was constructed to serve as a probe in hybridization experiments under stringent conditions as described previously (Allignet et al., 1996). pIP1705 consists of pUC19 cleaved with SalI and PstI, and an insert of 1051 bp amplified from within vgaB by the following primers, which introduce PstI or SalI sites: Oligo I 5′-AAGTCGACTGACAATATGAGTGGTGG-3′        SalI Oligo II 5′-CTGCAGATGCCTCAACAGCATCGATATCC-3′           Pst1

[0177] The 52 SgAr staphylococci investigated (Allignet et al., 1996; El Solh et al., 1980; Loncle et al., 1993) included 10 strains (7S. aureus, 1S. simulans, 1S. haemolyticus, and 1S. cohnii urealyticum), which harbored 26 to 45 kb plasmids containing vga, vat, and vgb; 21 strains (20 S. aureus and one S. epidermidis), which harbored 50 to 90 kb plasmids containing vatB; 16 strains (12 S. epidermidis, three S. haemolyticus and one S. aureus) with 6 to 15 kb plasmids containing vga; one S. epidermidis strain which harbored a plasmid of approximately 20 kb containing vga-vat; and four S. aureus strains, which do not carry nucleotide sequences hybridizing with vat, vatB, vga, or vgb. Nucleotide sequences hybridizing with pIP1705 were found only in the 21 large plasmids containing vatB. In all these 21 plasmids including pIP1633, the hybridizing nucleotide sequences were detected on a 1.5 kb EcoRI fragment, which also hybridized with vatB, suggesting that vgaB and vatB have conserved relative positions.

Example 5 Results Concerning vatC and vgbB Genes

[0178] The Staphylococcus cohnii strain, BM10711, resistant to the synergistic mixtures streptogramin A and streptogramin B and related compounds (pristinamycin, virginiamycin, synergistin, mikamycin, Quinupristin-Dalfopristin) was analyzed. This strain was isolated at Douera hospital (Algeria) where the pristinamycin was frequently used topically. The strain was isolated (Liassin et al., 1997) from a sample provided from a cupboard located in a room occupied by patients suffering from chronic osteomyelitis.

[0179] The strain BM10711 harbored several plasmids including pIP1714 (5 kb). This plasmid was isolated by electroporation in a S. aureus recipient strain, RN4220. The transformant, harboring pIP1714, was selected on BHIA containing 10 μg/ml pristinamycin IIA. Plasmid pIP1714 conferred resistances to streptogramin A and streptogramin B and related compounds.

[0180] Plasmid pIP1714 was linearized by cleavage with HindIII and cloned in the HindIII site of the vector pOX7 also named pOX300 (Dyke et al., 1989, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 58:209-216). pOX7 results from the cointegration of the E. coli vector, pUC18, and S. aureus plasmid, pE194. The recombinant plasmid pIP1715 consisting of pOX7 and pIP1714 was used to sequence pIP1714 in its entirety. The gene vatc (636 nucleotides) encoding an acetyltransferase inactivating streptogramin A and related compounds and the gene vgbB (885 nucleotides) encoding a lactonase inactivating streptogramin B and related compounds were found to be carried by this plasmid. The gene vatC had 71.7, 62.2 and 64.1% nucleotides identity with vat-related gene, vatB and satA respectively and the gene vgbB presents 69.5% nucleotides identity with the gene vgb.

[0181] VatC acetyltransferase exhibits significant similarity with acetyltransferases having the same enzymatic activity and encoded by the genes vatC, vatB, and sat (respectively 69.8,58.2 and 66.0% amino acids identity). These proteins belong to a family of xenobiotic acetyltransferases modifying various substrates including streptogramin A and related antibiotics. VgbB lactonase exhibits as well significant similarity with Vgb inactivating streptogramin B and related (67.0% amino acids identity).

[0182] The two other genes carried by pIP1714 are pre and repB, encoding proteins involved in mobilization and replication, respectively. These two genes are homologous to those carried by the staphylococcal plasmid, pUB110 (McKenzie et al., 1986, Plasmid 15:93-103). Moreover, as reported in FIG. 5, the intergenic sequences of pIP1714 delimited by vatC and repB also exhibited significant similarities with pUB110.

Example 6 Plasmid DNA Isolation from PIIA^(R) Staphylococci

[0183] The staphylococci were grown after overnight incubation at 37° C. in 200 ml BHI containing 10 μg/mI of PIIA. After 15 min centrifugation at 8000 rpm, the pellet was resuspended in 25 ml TES (Tris 50 mM, EDTA 1 mM, saccharose 7%). After adding 150 μg of lysostaphin, the mixture was incubated 30 min at 37° C. Then, 2 ml of SDS 20% and 6 ml of EDTA.0.25 M were added and the suspension was incubated 15 min at 37° C. 8 ml of NaCl 5M were added and the mixture was kept 90 min at +4° C. After 30 min centrifugation at 8000 rpm, the supernatent was incubated 15 min at 37° C. with 5 μg of Rnase (Boehringer). 10 μg of Proteinase K were added and the suspension was incubated 15 min at 65° C. DNA was precipitated using isopropanol (0.6 V for 1 V of DNA solution). After 30 min centrifugation at 8000 g, the pellet was washed with 10 ml ethanol 70%. The washed DNA was dried at 56° C., dissolved in 10 ml water and purified by dye-buoyant density centrifugation (ethidium bromide—cesium chloride). The extrachromosomal band was collected. After removing ethidium bromide, the solution of plasmid DNA was dialyzed using TE buffer (Tris, 10 mM, EDTA 1 mM, pH 7).

Example 7 Plasmid DNA Isolation from E. coli

[0184] Cf. QIAfilter plasmid maxi protocol for large-scale preparations and QIAprep Spin plasmid kit protocol for mini-preparations.

[0185] Quiagen GmbH and Quiagen Inc. (Hilden, Germany)

[0186] Plasmid maxi kit

[0187] Ref: 12262

[0188] Miniprep kit

[0189] Ref: 27104

Example 8 Transformation by Electroporation of the S. aureus Recipient Strain, RN4220

[0190] 1—Preparation of Cells

[0191] 200 ml of BHI was inoculated with 20 ml of an overnight culture of RN4220 (Kreiswirth et al., Nature 1983, 306:709-712) and incubated at 37° C. with shaking. When the OD reached 0.4 at 600 nm, the suspension was kept in ice. The pellet was washed three times with 20 ml of cold Hepes buffer (saccharose 9.31%—Hepes 0.19%—pH. 7.4). The pellet was resuspended in 2.5 ml of Hepes buffer containing 10% glycerol. Aliquots of 100 μl cell suspension (3.10¹⁰/ml) were stored at −80° C.

[0192] 2—Electroporation

[0193] After thawing at room temperature, the 100 μl aliquot of cells was kept in ice. After adding 10 μl of a solution containing 1 μg of plasmid DNA, the mixture was transferred to a cold 0.2 cm electroporation cuvette. The Gene Pulser (BioRad) was set at 25 uF and 2.5 KV and the Pulse Controller to 100Ω. This produced a pulse with a constant time of 2.3 to 2.5 m sec. The cuvette was removed from the chamber and 1 ml of SOC (2% bactotryptone, 0.5% bactoyeast extract, 10 mM NaCl, 2.5 mMKCl, 10 mM MgCl₂, 10 MM MgSO₄, 20 mM glucose) was added. The cell suspension was transferred in a propylene tube and incubated with shaking at 37° C. for 1 hr. The suspension was then plated on selective medium, which consisted of BHIA containing 10 μg/mI erythromycin or 10 μg/ml of PIIA. The plates were incubated 48 h at 37° C. and the transformants isolated on selective medium. The further studies were carried out on a single isolated colony.

Example 9 Polymerase Chain Reaction

[0194] DNA was amplified by PCR in a Crocodile 11 thermal cycler (Appligene) with approximately 10 ng of cellular DNA or lng of plasmid DNA. The reaction mixture contained 0.6 μM of each oligonucleotide serving as primer, 200 μM of each deoxynucleotide triphosphate, 2.5 U of Taq DNA Polymerase (Amersham, Int.), and 1× buffer (Amersham, Int.). The final reaction volume was adjusted to 100 μl with H₂O and the sample was then covered by 50 μl of heavy white mineral oil (Sigma Chemical Co, St. Louis, Mo.).

[0195] PCR experiments were carried out at high or low stringency, depending on the primers used. At high stringency, the PCR was performed with a precycle of 3 min at 95° C. and 2 min at 60° C., 30 cycles of 20 sec at 72° C., 20 sec at 95° C., 20 sec at 60° C. followed by a cycle of 1 min at 72° C. At low stringency, the PCR was performed with a precycle of 5 min at 95° C., 35 cycles of 2 min at 40° C., 1 min 30 sec at 72° C., 30 sec at 95° C. followed by a cycle of 4 min at 40° C. and 12 min at 72° C. The oligonucleotides used at high stringency are indicated in the Table below. PRIMER vqaB Oligo I  5′-AAGTCGACTGACAkTATGAGTGGTGG-3′                    SalI Oligo II  5′-CTGCAGATGCCTCAACAGCATCGATATCC -3′                PstI vatC Oligo III  5′-ATGAATTCGCAAATCAGCAAGG-3′      EcoRI Oligo IV  5′-TCGTCTCGAGCTCTAGGTCC-3′ SacI vgbB Oligo V  5′-CAGCAGTCTAGATCAGAGTGG-3′      XbaI Oligo VI  5′-CATACGGATCCACCTTTTCC-3′   BamH1

Example 10 Labelling of DNA Probes

[0196] Plasmid DNA was labelled with [(α-³²P] dCTP (110 Tbq mmol⁻¹) by the random printing technique using the Megaprime DNA labelling system (Amersham).

Example 11 Blotting and Hybridization

[0197] Hybond-N+ membranes (Amersham) were used for blotting. DNA was transferred from agarose gels to the membranes by the capillary blotting method of Southern Blotting. DNA was denatured and fixed to the membranes according to the protocol described in the handbook user of Hybond-N+ membranes.

[0198] Prehybridization and hybridization were done at 68° C. in a mixture containing 5×SSPE (1×SSPE is 0.3 M NaCl, 30 m tri-sodium citrate), 5× Denhardt's solution, 0.5% (w/v) SDS, and 100 μg ml⁻¹ salmon sperm DNA. The membranes containing DNA transferred from agarose gels were treated with 10 ng ml⁻¹ radiolabeled DNA probe. Washing was started with two successive immersions in 2×SSPE, 0.1% SDS, at room temperature for 10 min, followed by one immersion in 1×SSPE, 0.1% SDS, at 68° C. for 15 min, and finally by one immersion in 0.1×SSPE, 0.1% SDS, at 68° C. for 15 min. The washed blots treated with the radiolabeled probe were exposed to Fuji RX film at −70° C.

Example 12 Nucleotides Sequence Determination

[0199] For vatC and vghB, the sequencing reaction was performed by PCR amplification in a final volume of 20 μl using 500 ng of plasmid DNA, 5-10 pmoles of primer and 9.5 μl of DyeTerminators premix according to Applied Biosystems protocol. After heating to 94° C. for 2 min, the reaction was cycled as the following: 25 cycles of 30s at 94° C., 30s at 55° C., and 4 min at 60° C. (9600 thermal cycler Perkin Elmer). Removal of excess of DyeTerminators were performed using Quick Spin columns (Boehringer Mannheim). The samples were dried in a vacuum centrifuge and dissolved with 4 μl of deionized formamide EDTA pH 8.0 (5/1). The samples were loaded onto an Applied Biosystems 373A sequencer and run for 12 h on a 4.5% denaturing acrylamide gel.

[0200] Primers used for sequencing the following genes: •  vatC 5′-GAAATGGTTGGGAGAAGCATACC-3′ 5′-CAGCAATCGCGCCCGTTT G-3′ 5′-AATCGGCAGAATTACAAACG-3′ 5′-CGTTCCCAATTTCCGTGT TACC-3′ •  vgbB 5′-GTTTCTATGCTGATCTGAATC-3′ 5′-GTCGTTTGTAATTCTGCC GATT-3′ 5′-GGTCTAAATGGCGATATATGG-3′ 5′-TTCGAATTCTTTTATCCT ACC-3′

[0201] For vgaB, DNA was sequenced according to the instructions provided by the T7Sequencing™ kit from Pharmacia Biotech (Uppsala, Sweden), procedures C and D.

[0202] Primers used for sequencing the following genes: 5′-GCTTGGCAAAAGCAACC-3′ 5′-TGAATATAGGATAG-3′ 5′-TTGGATCAGGGCC-3′ 5′-CAATTAGAAGAACCAC-3′ 5′-CAATTGTTCAGCTAGG-3′ 5′-GAATTCATTCTATGG-3′ 5′-TACACCATTGTTACC-3′ 5′-CAAGGAATGATTAAGCC-3′ 5′-GATTCAGATGTTCCC-3′ 5′-TCATGGTCGCAATG-3′ 5′-GTTGCTTTCGTAGAAGC-3′ 5′-GTTATGTCATCCTC-3′ 5′-GGTTCATCTACGAGC-3′ 5′-GGATATCGATGCTG-3′ 5′-GCCAACTCCATTC-3′ 5′-CCTAGCTGAACAATTG-3′ 5′-GAAGGTGCCTGATCC-3′ 5′-ATACTAGAAATGC-3′

Example 13 DNA Cloning

[0203] A standard protocol was followed for cloning into the vector pOX7, also named pOX300, the 2.4 kb Hindffl-HaeIII fragment of pIP1633 carrying vgaB (FIG. 1) and the plasmid pIP1714 carrying vatC and vgbB (FIG. 4), linearized by cleavage with HindIII. The vector DNA (10-20 μg) and the plasmids used in cloning experiments were cleaved with the appropriate restriction enzymes (30 Units) and purified by GeneClean Kit (Bio 101, La Jolla, Calif.). To avoid religation, the vector cleaved with a single enzyme was dephosphorylated by 30 min incubation at 37° C. with 5 Units of alkaline phosphatase. Ligation was carried out in a total reaction volume of 10 μl containing 0.1 μg of the vector, 0.1 μg of the plasmid, 0.5 mM ATP, 1×T4 DNA ligase buffer and 0.1 Weiss Unit of T4 DNA ligase. After overnight incubation at 16° C., 1 to 2 μl of the ligation mixture are used for transforming competent E. coli and the transformants were selected on solid media containing 100 μg/ml of ampicillin.

Example 14 Susceptibility to Antimicrobial Agents

[0204] Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was determined with a disk diffusion assay and commercially available disks (Diagnostic Pasteur). Additional disks prepared in our laboratory contained streptogramin A (20 μg) or streptogramin B (40 μg).

[0205] NCCLS: Performance standards for antimicrobial disk susceptibility test, 1984, Approved standard M2-A3, 4:369-402.

[0206] ECCLS: Standard for antimicrobial susceptibility testing by diffusion methods, 1985, ECCLS Document, 5:4-14.

[0207] Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antibiotics were determined by serial twofold dilutions of antibiotics in MHA (Ericson H. M. and S. C. Sherris, ActaPathol. Microbiol. Scand., 1971, Suppl. 217:Section B).

[0208] Despite the relatively low frequency of detection of SgA^(R) staphylococci (1-10%) (Loncle et al., 1993; Allignet et al., 1996), four genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A have been detected and other resistance gene(s) are suspected to be carried by staphylococci. Surprisingly, the present and previous studies (Allignet et al., 1996) indicate that staphylococcal plasmids carrying two genes encoding streptogramin A resistance |by two distinct mechanisms (inactivation by acetyltransferases and increased efflux) are widespread among staphylococci (32 of the 48 plasmids investigated)..

[0209] References

[0210] The following publications have been cited herein. The entire disclosure of each publication is relied upon and incorporated by reference herein.

[0211] Allignet, J., Loncle, V., Mazodier, P. and El Solh, N. (1988) Nucleotide sequence of a staphylococcal plasmid gene, vgb, encoding a hydrolase inactivating the B components of virginiamycin-like antibiotics. Plasmid 20, 271-275.

[0212] Allignet, J., Loncle, V. and El Solh, N. (1992) Sequence of a staphylococcal plasmid gene, vga, encoding a putative ATP-binding protein involved in resistance to virginiamycin A-like antibiotics. Gene 117, 45-51.

[0213] Allignet, J., Loncle, V., Simenel, C., Delepierre, M. and El Solh, N. (1993) Sequence of a staphylococcal gene, vat, encoding an acetyltransferase inactivating the A-type compounds of virginiamycin-like antibiotics. Gene 130, 91-98.

[0214] Allignet, J. and El Solh, N. (1995) Diversity among the Gram-positive acetyltransferases inactivating streptogramin A and structurally related compounds, and characterization of a new staphylococcal determinant, vatB. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 39, 2027-2036.

[0215] Allignet, J., Aubert, S., Morvan, A. and El Solh, N. (1996) Distribution of the genes encoding resistance to streptogramin A and related compounds among the staphylococci resistant to these antibiotics. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 40, 2523-2528.

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[0254]

1 50 1 1656 DNA Staphyloccocus 1 atgcttaaaa tcgacatgaa gaatgtaaaa aaatattatg cagataaatt aattttaaat 60 ataaaagaac taaagattta tagtggggat aaaataggta ttgtaggtaa gaatggagtt 120 ggcaaaacaa cacttttaaa aataataaaa ggactaatag agattgacga aggaaatata 180 attataagtg aaaaaacaac tattaaatat atctctcaat tagaagaacc acatagtaag 240 ataattgatg gaaaatatgc ttcaatattt caagttgaaa ataagtggaa tgacaatatg 300 agtggtggtg aaaaaactag atttaaacta gcagagggat ttcaagatca atgttcttta 360 atgctcgtag atgaacctac aagtaattta gatatcgaag gaatagagtt gataacaaat 420 acttttaaag agtaccgtga tacttttttg gtagtatctc atgatagaat ttttttagat 480 caagtttgta caaaaatttt tgaaattgaa aatggatata ttagagaatt catcggtaat 540 tatacaaact atatagagca aaaagaaatg cttctacgaa agcaacaaga agaatacgaa 600 aagtataatt ctaaaagaaa gcaattggag caagctataa agctaaaaga gaataaggcg 660 caaggaatga ttaagccccc ttcaaaaaca atgggaacat ctgaatctag aatatggaaa 720 atgcaacatg ctactaaaca aaaaaagatg catagaaata cgaaatcgtt ggaaacacga 780 atagataaat taaatcatgt agaaaaaata aaagagcttc cttctattaa aatggattta 840 cctaatagag agcaatttca tggtcgcaat gtaattagtt taaaaaactt atctataaaa 900 tttaataatc aatttctttg gagagatgct tcatttgtca ttaaaggtgg agaaaaggtt 960 gctataattg gtaacaatgg tgtaggaaaa acaacattgt tgaagctgat tctagaaaaa 1020 gtagaatcag taataatatc accatcagtt aaaattggat acgtcagtca aaacttagat 1080 gttctacaat ctcataaatc tatcttagaa aatgttatgt ctacctccat tcaagatgaa 1140 acaatagcaa gaattgttct agcaagatta catttttatc gcaatgatgt tcataaagaa 1200 ataaatgttt tgagtggtgg agaacaaata aaggttgctt ttgccaagct atttgttagc 1260 gattgtaata cattaattct tgatgaacca acaaactatt tggatatcga tgctgttgag 1320 gcattagaag aattgttaat tacctatgaa ggtgttgtgt tatttgcttc ccatgataaa 1380 aaatttatac aaaacctagc tgaacaattg ttaataatag aaaataataa agtgaaaaaa 1440 ttcgaaggaa catatataga atatttaaaa attaaagata aaccaaaatt aaatacaaat 1500 gaaaaagaac tcaaagaaaa aaagatgata ctagaaatgc aaatttcatc attattaagt 1560 aaaatctcaa tggaagaaaa tgaagaaaaa aacaaagaat tagatgaaaa gtacaaattg 1620 aaattaaaag aattgaaaag cctaaataaa aatatt 1656 2 636 DNA Staphyloccocus 2 atgaaatggc aaaatcagca aggccccaat ccagaagaaa tataccctat agaaggtaat 60 aaacatgttc aatttattaa accatctata acaaagccca atattttagt tggggaatat 120 tcatattacg atagtaaaga tggtgaatct tttgaaagcc aagttcttta tcactatgaa 180 ttgattgggg ataaactaat attagggaag ttttgttcta ttggacccgg aacgacattt 240 ataatgaatg gggctaatca tcgtatggat ggttcaacat ttccattcaa tcttttcgga 300 aatggttggg agaagcatac ccctacattg gaagaccttc cttataaggg taacacggaa 360 attgggaacg atgtttggat tggacgagat gtgacaatta tgcccggtgt aaaaatagga 420 aacggggcta ttattgcagc aaaatcggtt gtgacaaaga acgttgatcc ttattcagtt 480 gttggcggta atccttcacg attaattaag ataaggtttt ccaaggaaaa aatcgcagca 540 ttactaaaag taaggtggtg ggacctagag atagagacga taaatgaaaa tattgattgc 600 atcctgaatg gtgatataaa aaaggttaaa agaagt 636 3 885 DNA Staphyloccocus 3 atgaattttt atttagagga gtttaacttg tctattcccg attcaggtcc atacggtata 60 acttcatcag aagacggaaa ggtatggttc acacaacata aggcaaacaa aatcagcagt 120 ctagatcaga gtggtaggat aaaagaattc gaagttccta cccctgatgc taaagtgatg 180 tgtttaattg tatcttcact tggagacata tggtttacag agaatggtgc aaataaaatc 240 ggaaagctct caaaaaaagg tggctttaca gaatatccat tgccacagcc ggattctggt 300 ccttacggaa taacggaagg tctaaatggc gatatatggt ttacccaatt gaatggagat 360 cgtataggaa agttgacagc tgatgggact atttatgaat atgatttgcc aaataaggga 420 tcttatcctg cttttattac tttaggttcg gataacgcac tttggttcac ggagaaccaa 480 aataattcta ttggaaggat tacaaataca gggaaattag aagaatatcc tctaccaaca 540 aatgcagcgg ctccagtggg tatcactagt ggtaacgatg gtgcactctg gtttgtcgaa 600 attatgggca acaaaatagg tcgaatcact acaactggtg agattagcga atatgatatt 660 ccaactccaa acgcacgtcc acacgctata accgcgggga aaaatagcga aatatggttt 720 actgaatggg gggcaaatca aatcggcaga attacaaacg acaaaacaat tcaagaatat 780 caacttcaaa cagaaaatgc ggaacctcat ggtattacct ttggaaaaga tggatccgta 840 tggtttgcat taaaatgtaa aattgggaag ctgaatttga acgaa 885 4 552 PRT Staphyloccocus 4 Met Leu Lys Ile Asp Met Lys Asn Val Lys Lys Tyr Tyr Ala Asp Lys 1 5 10 15 Leu Ile Leu Asn Ile Lys Glu Leu Lys Ile Tyr Ser Gly Asp Lys Ile 20 25 30 Gly Ile Val Gly Lys Asn Gly Val Gly Lys Thr Thr Leu Leu Lys Ile 35 40 45 Ile Lys Gly Leu Ile Glu Ile Asp Glu Gly Asn Ile Ile Ile Ser Glu 50 55 60 Lys Thr Thr Ile Lys Tyr Ile Ser Gln Leu Glu Glu Pro His Ser Lys 65 70 75 80 Ile Ile Asp Gly Lys Tyr Ala Ser Ile Phe Gln Val Glu Asn Lys Trp 85 90 95 Asn Asp Asn Met Ser Gly Gly Glu Lys Thr Arg Phe Lys Leu Ala Glu 100 105 110 Gly Phe Gln Asp Gln Cys Ser Leu Met Leu Val Asp Glu Pro Thr Ser 115 120 125 Asn Leu Asp Ile Glu Gly Ile Glu Leu Ile Thr Asn Thr Phe Lys Glu 130 135 140 Tyr Arg Asp Thr Phe Leu Val Val Ser His Asp Arg Ile Phe Leu Asp 145 150 155 160 Gln Val Cys Thr Lys Ile Phe Glu Ile Glu Asn Gly Tyr Ile Arg Glu 165 170 175 Phe Ile Gly Asn Tyr Thr Asn Tyr Ile Glu Gln Lys Glu Met Leu Leu 180 185 190 Arg Lys Gln Gln Glu Glu Tyr Glu Lys Tyr Asn Ser Lys Arg Lys Gln 195 200 205 Leu Glu Gln Ala Ile Lys Leu Lys Glu Asn Lys Ala Gln Gly Met Ile 210 215 220 Lys Pro Pro Ser Lys Thr Met Gly Thr Ser Glu Ser Arg Ile Trp Lys 225 230 235 240 Met Gln His Ala Thr Lys Gln Lys Lys Met His Arg Asn Thr Lys Ser 245 250 255 Leu Glu Thr Arg Ile Asp Lys Leu Asn His Val Glu Lys Ile Lys Glu 260 265 270 Leu Pro Ser Ile Lys Met Asp Leu Pro Asn Arg Glu Gln Phe His Gly 275 280 285 Arg Asn Val Ile Ser Leu Lys Asn Leu Ser Ile Lys Phe Asn Asn Gln 290 295 300 Phe Leu Trp Arg Asp Ala Ser Phe Val Ile Lys Gly Gly Glu Lys Val 305 310 315 320 Ala Ile Ile Gly Asn Asn Gly Val Gly Lys Thr Thr Leu Leu Lys Leu 325 330 335 Ile Leu Glu Lys Val Glu Ser Val Ile Ile Ser Pro Ser Val Lys Ile 340 345 350 Gly Tyr Val Ser Gln Asn Leu Asp Val Leu Gln Ser His Lys Ser Ile 355 360 365 Leu Glu Asn Val Met Ser Thr Ser Ile Gln Asp Glu Thr Ile Ala Arg 370 375 380 Ile Val Leu Ala Arg Leu His Phe Tyr Arg Asn Asp Val His Lys Glu 385 390 395 400 Ile Asn Val Leu Ser Gly Gly Glu Gln Ile Lys Val Ala Phe Ala Lys 405 410 415 Leu Phe Val Ser Asp Cys Asn Thr Leu Ile Leu Asp Glu Pro Thr Asn 420 425 430 Tyr Leu Asp Ile Asp Ala Val Glu Ala Leu Glu Glu Leu Leu Ile Thr 435 440 445 Tyr Glu Gly Val Val Leu Phe Ala Ser His Asp Lys Lys Phe Ile Gln 450 455 460 Asn Leu Ala Glu Gln Leu Leu Ile Ile Glu Asn Asn Lys Val Lys Lys 465 470 475 480 Phe Glu Gly Thr Tyr Ile Glu Tyr Leu Lys Ile Lys Asp Lys Pro Lys 485 490 495 Leu Asn Thr Asn Glu Lys Glu Leu Lys Glu Lys Lys Met Ile Leu Glu 500 505 510 Met Gln Ile Ser Ser Leu Leu Ser Lys Ile Ser Met Glu Glu Asn Glu 515 520 525 Glu Lys Asn Lys Glu Leu Asp Glu Lys Tyr Lys Leu Lys Leu Lys Glu 530 535 540 Leu Lys Ser Leu Asn Lys Asn Ile 545 550 5 212 PRT Staphyloccocus 5 Met Lys Trp Gln Asn Gln Gln Gly Pro Asn Pro Glu Glu Ile Tyr Pro 1 5 10 15 Ile Glu Gly Asn Lys His Val Gln Phe Ile Lys Pro Ser Ile Thr Lys 20 25 30 Pro Asn Ile Leu Val Gly Glu Tyr Ser Tyr Tyr Asp Ser Lys Asp Gly 35 40 45 Glu Ser Phe Glu Ser Gln Val Leu Tyr His Tyr Glu Leu Ile Gly Asp 50 55 60 Lys Leu Ile Leu Gly Lys Phe Cys Ser Ile Gly Pro Gly Thr Thr Phe 65 70 75 80 Ile Met Asn Gly Ala Asn His Arg Met Asp Gly Ser Thr Phe Pro Phe 85 90 95 Asn Leu Phe Gly Asn Gly Trp Glu Lys His Thr Pro Thr Leu Glu Asp 100 105 110 Leu Pro Tyr Lys Gly Asn Thr Glu Ile Gly Asn Asp Val Trp Ile Gly 115 120 125 Arg Asp Val Thr Ile Met Pro Gly Val Lys Ile Gly Asn Gly Ala Ile 130 135 140 Ile Ala Ala Lys Ser Val Val Thr Lys Asn Val Asp Pro Tyr Ser Val 145 150 155 160 Val Gly Gly Asn Pro Ser Arg Leu Ile Lys Ile Arg Phe Ser Lys Glu 165 170 175 Lys Ile Ala Ala Leu Leu Lys Val Arg Trp Trp Asp Leu Glu Ile Glu 180 185 190 Thr Ile Asn Glu Asn Ile Asp Cys Ile Leu Asn Gly Asp Ile Lys Lys 195 200 205 Val Lys Arg Ser 210 6 295 PRT Staphyloccocus 6 Met Asn Phe Tyr Leu Glu Glu Phe Asn Leu Ser Ile Pro Asp Ser Gly 1 5 10 15 Pro Tyr Gly Ile Thr Ser Ser Glu Asp Gly Lys Val Trp Phe Thr Gln 20 25 30 His Lys Ala Asn Lys Ile Ser Ser Leu Asp Gln Ser Gly Arg Ile Lys 35 40 45 Glu Phe Glu Val Pro Thr Pro Asp Ala Lys Val Met Cys Leu Ile Val 50 55 60 Ser Ser Leu Gly Asp Ile Trp Phe Thr Glu Asn Gly Ala Asn Lys Ile 65 70 75 80 Gly Lys Leu Ser Lys Lys Gly Gly Phe Thr Glu Tyr Pro Leu Pro Gln 85 90 95 Pro Asp Ser Gly Pro Tyr Gly Ile Thr Glu Gly Leu Asn Gly Asp Ile 100 105 110 Trp Phe Thr Gln Leu Asn Gly Asp Arg Ile Gly Lys Leu Thr Ala Asp 115 120 125 Gly Thr Ile Tyr Glu Tyr Asp Leu Pro Asn Lys Gly Ser Tyr Pro Ala 130 135 140 Phe Ile Thr Leu Gly Ser Asp Asn Ala Leu Trp Phe Thr Glu Asn Gln 145 150 155 160 Asn Asn Ser Ile Gly Arg Ile Thr Asn Thr Gly Lys Leu Glu Glu Tyr 165 170 175 Pro Leu Pro Thr Asn Ala Ala Ala Pro Val Gly Ile Thr Ser Gly Asn 180 185 190 Asp Gly Ala Leu Trp Phe Val Glu Ile Met Gly Asn Lys Ile Gly Arg 195 200 205 Ile Thr Thr Thr Gly Glu Ile Ser Glu Tyr Asp Ile Pro Thr Pro Asn 210 215 220 Ala Arg Pro His Ala Ile Thr Ala Gly Lys Asn Ser Glu Ile Trp Phe 225 230 235 240 Thr Glu Trp Gly Ala Asn Gln Ile Gly Arg Ile Thr Asn Asp Lys Thr 245 250 255 Ile Gln Glu Tyr Gln Leu Gln Thr Glu Asn Ala Glu Pro His Gly Ile 260 265 270 Thr Phe Gly Lys Asp Gly Ser Val Trp Phe Ala Leu Lys Cys Lys Ile 275 280 285 Gly Lys Leu Asn Leu Asn Glu 290 295 7 7 PRT Staphyloccocus 7 Lys Ser Ile Leu Glu Asn Val 1 5 8 10 PRT Staphyloccocus Xaa at position 3 is a Thr/Ser and Xaa at position 6 is an Ile/Val 8 Asn Tyr Xaa Asn Tyr Xaa Glu Gln Lys Glu 1 5 10 9 9 PRT Staphyloccocus 9 Ile Met Asn Gly Ala Asn His Arg Met 1 5 10 7 PRT Staphyloccocus 10 Gly Asn Asp Val Trp Ile Gly 1 5 11 21 DNA Staphyloccocus 11 aarwsyatyt tagaaaatgt t 21 12 30 DNA Staphyloccocus 12 aattataswa actatrtwga gcaaaaagaa 30 13 27 DNA Staphyloccocus 13 atwatgaatg gkgcwaayca tmgdatg 27 14 21 DNA Staphyloccocus 14 ggraaygatg tdtggatwgg w 21 15 26 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 15 aagtcgactg acaatatgag tggtgg 26 16 29 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 16 ctgcagatgc ctcaacagca tcgatatcc 29 17 22 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 17 atgaattcgc aaatcagcaa gg 22 18 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 18 tcgtctcgag ctctaggtcc 20 19 21 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 19 cagcagtcta gatcagagtg g 21 20 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 20 catacggatc caccttttcc 20 21 23 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 21 gaaatggttg ggagaagcat acc 23 22 19 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 22 cagcaatcgc gcccgtttg 19 23 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 23 aatcggcaga attacaaacg 20 24 22 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 24 cgttcccaat ttccgtgtta cc 22 25 21 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 25 gtttctatgc tgatctgaat c 21 26 22 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 26 gtcgtttgta attctgccga tt 22 27 21 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 27 ggtctaaatg gcgatatatg g 21 28 21 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 28 ttcgaattct tttatcctac c 21 29 17 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 29 gcttggcaaa agcaacc 17 30 13 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 30 ttggatcagg gcc 13 31 16 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 31 caattgttca gctagg 16 32 15 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 32 tacaccattg ttacc 15 33 15 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 33 gattcagatg ttccc 15 34 17 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 34 gttgctttcg tagaagc 17 35 15 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 35 ggttcatcta cgagc 15 36 13 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 36 gccaactcca ttc 13 37 15 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 37 gaaggtgcct gatcc 15 38 14 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 38 tgaatatagg atag 14 39 16 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 39 caattagaag aaccac 16 40 15 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 40 gaattcattc tatgg 15 41 17 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 41 caaggaatga ttaagcc 17 42 14 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 42 tcatggtcgc aatg 14 43 14 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 43 gttatgtcat cctc 14 44 14 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 44 ggatatcgat gctg 14 45 16 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 45 cctagctgaa caattg 16 46 13 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence primer 46 atactagaaa tgc 13 47 2411 DNA Staphyloccocus CDS (700)..(2355) CDS (2388)..(2411) 47 aagctttaat taagttagca gaagattatg gagtaatact aagaacaagt gatagtagta 60 ctaaagaaca agcaaaagaa caagctaaag atgatataat tgacttatta aaagagcaat 120 tagaatatga aaaagatcga aatgaaaaac tatcaaaact taacgataat ttattggaac 180 agttagataa aaatcaaaca ttattagatc agcaacaaag attaagtctt aatgatcaaa 240 atagtatcaa aatgttagaa tcagaattag aagaaaaaaa gaagaaaaag aagaaaaaga 300 aactaagtgg tatcatgtat tccagagaaa aaaataatta tatattaaaa tgagatacaa 360 caaatgaatt agtttgtttc aataggaatt tggtaaaacc catgtacata taacttttaa 420 tttagtataa ttaaataaac aaagaaatcg aaagggtgaa atattaataa aatgatcaaa 480 taatccgtca ctaaaaagaa aattaaatat attggaaaga ttttacctaa tatatttatg 540 tctatttatt atgattggat agtttgttta tttgttatat ttcacttata taaactatcc 600 tctattttaa aaaaaggagg atttttttat gcttttgttt atttgttata tttcacttat 660 ataaactatc ctctatttta aaaaaaggag gattttttt atg ctt aaa atc gac 714 Met Leu Lys Ile Asp 1 5 atg aag aat gta aaa aaa tat tat gca gat aaa tta att tta aat ata 762 Met Lys Asn Val Lys Lys Tyr Tyr Ala Asp Lys Leu Ile Leu Asn Ile 10 15 20 aaa gaa cta aag att tat agt ggg gat aaa ata ggt att gta ggt aag 810 Lys Glu Leu Lys Ile Tyr Ser Gly Asp Lys Ile Gly Ile Val Gly Lys 25 30 35 aat gga gtt ggc aaa aca aca ctt tta aaa ata ata aaa gga cta ata 858 Asn Gly Val Gly Lys Thr Thr Leu Leu Lys Ile Ile Lys Gly Leu Ile 40 45 50 gag att gac gaa gga aat ata att ata agt gaa aaa aca act att aaa 906 Glu Ile Asp Glu Gly Asn Ile Ile Ile Ser Glu Lys Thr Thr Ile Lys 55 60 65 tat atc tct caa tta gaa gaa cca cat agt aag ata att gat gga aaa 954 Tyr Ile Ser Gln Leu Glu Glu Pro His Ser Lys Ile Ile Asp Gly Lys 70 75 80 85 tat gct tca ata ttt caa gtt gaa aat aag tgg aat gac aat atg agt 1002 Tyr Ala Ser Ile Phe Gln Val Glu Asn Lys Trp Asn Asp Asn Met Ser 90 95 100 ggt ggt gaa aaa act aga ttt aaa cta gca gag gga ttt caa gat caa 1050 Gly Gly Glu Lys Thr Arg Phe Lys Leu Ala Glu Gly Phe Gln Asp Gln 105 110 115 tgt tct tta atg ctc gta gat gaa cct aca agt aat tta gat atc gaa 1098 Cys Ser Leu Met Leu Val Asp Glu Pro Thr Ser Asn Leu Asp Ile Glu 120 125 130 gga ata gag ttg ata aca aat act ttt aaa gag tac cgt gat act ttt 1146 Gly Ile Glu Leu Ile Thr Asn Thr Phe Lys Glu Tyr Arg Asp Thr Phe 135 140 145 ttg gta gta tct cat gat aga att ttt tta gat caa gtt tgt aca aaa 1194 Leu Val Val Ser His Asp Arg Ile Phe Leu Asp Gln Val Cys Thr Lys 150 155 160 165 att ttt gaa att gaa aat gga tat att aga gaa ttc atc ggt aat tat 1242 Ile Phe Glu Ile Glu Asn Gly Tyr Ile Arg Glu Phe Ile Gly Asn Tyr 170 175 180 aca aac tat ata gag caa aaa gaa atg ctt cta cga aag caa caa gaa 1290 Thr Asn Tyr Ile Glu Gln Lys Glu Met Leu Leu Arg Lys Gln Gln Glu 185 190 195 gaa tac gaa aag tat aat tct aaa aga aag caa ttg gag caa gct ata 1338 Glu Tyr Glu Lys Tyr Asn Ser Lys Arg Lys Gln Leu Glu Gln Ala Ile 200 205 210 aag cta aaa gag aat aag gcg caa gga atg att aag ccc cct tca aaa 1386 Lys Leu Lys Glu Asn Lys Ala Gln Gly Met Ile Lys Pro Pro Ser Lys 215 220 225 aca atg gga aca tct gaa tct aga ata tgg aaa atg caa cat gct act 1434 Thr Met Gly Thr Ser Glu Ser Arg Ile Trp Lys Met Gln His Ala Thr 230 235 240 245 aaa caa aaa aag atg cat aga aat acg aaa tcg ttg gaa aca cga ata 1482 Lys Gln Lys Lys Met His Arg Asn Thr Lys Ser Leu Glu Thr Arg Ile 250 255 260 gat aaa tta aat cat gta gaa aaa ata aaa gag ctt cct tct att aaa 1530 Asp Lys Leu Asn His Val Glu Lys Ile Lys Glu Leu Pro Ser Ile Lys 265 270 275 atg gat tta cct aat aga gag caa ttt cat ggt cgc aat gta att agt 1578 Met Asp Leu Pro Asn Arg Glu Gln Phe His Gly Arg Asn Val Ile Ser 280 285 290 tta aaa aac tta tct ata aaa ttt aat aat caa ttt ctt tgg aga gat 1626 Leu Lys Asn Leu Ser Ile Lys Phe Asn Asn Gln Phe Leu Trp Arg Asp 295 300 305 gct tca ttt gtc att aaa ggt gga gaa aag gtt gct ata att ggt aac 1674 Ala Ser Phe Val Ile Lys Gly Gly Glu Lys Val Ala Ile Ile Gly Asn 310 315 320 325 aat ggt gta gga aaa aca aca ttg ttg aag ctg att cta gaa aaa gta 1722 Asn Gly Val Gly Lys Thr Thr Leu Leu Lys Leu Ile Leu Glu Lys Val 330 335 340 gaa tca gta ata ata tca cca tca gtt aaa att gga tac gtc agt caa 1770 Glu Ser Val Ile Ile Ser Pro Ser Val Lys Ile Gly Tyr Val Ser Gln 345 350 355 aac tta gat gtt cta caa tct cat aaa tct atc tta gaa aat gtt atg 1818 Asn Leu Asp Val Leu Gln Ser His Lys Ser Ile Leu Glu Asn Val Met 360 365 370 tct acc tcc att caa gat gaa aca ata gca aga att gtt cta gca aga 1866 Ser Thr Ser Ile Gln Asp Glu Thr Ile Ala Arg Ile Val Leu Ala Arg 375 380 385 tta cat ttt tat cgc aat gat gtt cat aaa gaa ata aat gtt ttg agt 1914 Leu His Phe Tyr Arg Asn Asp Val His Lys Glu Ile Asn Val Leu Ser 390 395 400 405 ggt gga gaa caa ata aag gtt gct ttt gcc aag cta ttt gtt agc gat 1962 Gly Gly Glu Gln Ile Lys Val Ala Phe Ala Lys Leu Phe Val Ser Asp 410 415 420 tgt aat aca tta att ctt gat gaa cca aca aac tat ttg gat atc gat 2010 Cys Asn Thr Leu Ile Leu Asp Glu Pro Thr Asn Tyr Leu Asp Ile Asp 425 430 435 gct gtt gag gca tta gaa gaa ttg tta att acc tat gaa ggt gtt gtg 2058 Ala Val Glu Ala Leu Glu Glu Leu Leu Ile Thr Tyr Glu Gly Val Val 440 445 450 tta ttt gct tcc cat gat aaa aaa ttt ata caa aac cta gct gaa caa 2106 Leu Phe Ala Ser His Asp Lys Lys Phe Ile Gln Asn Leu Ala Glu Gln 455 460 465 ttg tta ata ata gaa aat aat aaa gtg aaa aaa ttc gaa gga aca tat 2154 Leu Leu Ile Ile Glu Asn Asn Lys Val Lys Lys Phe Glu Gly Thr Tyr 470 475 480 485 ata gaa tat tta aaa att aaa gat aaa cca aaa tta aat aca aat gaa 2202 Ile Glu Tyr Leu Lys Ile Lys Asp Lys Pro Lys Leu Asn Thr Asn Glu 490 495 500 aaa gaa ctc aaa gaa aaa aag atg ata cta gaa atg caa att tca tca 2250 Lys Glu Leu Lys Glu Lys Lys Met Ile Leu Glu Met Gln Ile Ser Ser 505 510 515 tta tta agt aaa atc tca atg gaa gaa aat gaa gaa aaa aac aaa gaa 2298 Leu Leu Ser Lys Ile Ser Met Glu Glu Asn Glu Glu Lys Asn Lys Glu 520 525 530 tta gat gaa aag tac aaa ttg aaa tta aaa gaa ttg aaa agc cta aat 2346 Leu Asp Glu Lys Tyr Lys Leu Lys Leu Lys Glu Leu Lys Ser Leu Asn 535 540 545 aaa aat att taaaataaat tatattaata ggaggtttaa aa atg aaa tat ggc 2399 Lys Asn Ile Met Lys Tyr Gly 550 1 cct gat cca aat 2411 Pro Asp Pro Asn 5 48 8 PRT Staphyloccocus 48 Met Lys Tyr Gly Pro Asp Pro Asn 1 5 49 522 PRT Staphyloccocus 49 Met Lys Ile Met Leu Glu Gly Leu Asn Ile Lys His Tyr Val Gln Asp 1 5 10 15 Arg Leu Leu Leu Asn Ile Asn Arg Leu Lys Ile Tyr Gln Asn Asp Arg 20 25 30 Ile Gly Leu Ile Gly Lys Asn Gly Ser Gly Lys Thr Thr Leu Leu His 35 40 45 Ile Leu Tyr Lys Lys Ile Val Pro Glu Glu Gly Ile Val Lys Gln Phe 50 55 60 Ser His Cys Glu Leu Ile Pro Gln Leu Lys Leu Ile Glu Ser Thr Lys 65 70 75 80 Ser Gly Gly Glu Val Thr Arg Asn Tyr Ile Arg Gln Ala Leu Asp Lys 85 90 95 Asn Pro Glu Leu Leu Leu Ala Asp Glu Pro Thr Thr Asn Leu Asp Asn 100 105 110 Asn Tyr Ile Glu Lys Leu Glu Gln Asp Leu Lys Asn Trp His Gly Ala 115 120 125 Phe Ile Ile Val Ser His Asp Arg Ala Phe Leu Asp Asn Leu Cys Thr 130 135 140 Thr Ile Trp Glu Ile Asp Glu Gly Arg Ile Thr Glu Tyr Lys Gly Asn 145 150 155 160 Tyr Ser Asn Tyr Val Glu Gln Lys Glu Leu Glu Arg His Arg Glu Glu 165 170 175 Leu Glu Tyr Glu Lys Tyr Glu Lys Glu Lys Lys Arg Leu Glu Lys Ala 180 185 190 Ile Asn Ile Lys Glu Gln Lys Ala Gln Arg Ala Thr Lys Lys Pro Lys 195 200 205 Asn Leu Ser Leu Ser Glu Gly Lys Ile Lys Gly Ala Lys Pro Tyr Phe 210 215 220 Ala Gly Lys Gln Lys Lys Leu Arg Lys Thr Val Lys Ser Leu Glu Thr 225 230 235 240 Arg Leu Glu Lys Leu Glu Ser Val Glu Lys Arg Asn Glu Leu Pro Pro 245 250 255 Leu Lys Met Asp Leu Val Asn Leu Glu Ser Val Lys Asn Arg Thr Ile 260 265 270 Ile Arg Gly Glu Asp Val Ser Gly Thr Ile Glu Gly Arg Val Leu Trp 275 280 285 Lys Ala Lys Ser Phe Ser Ile Arg Gly Gly Asp Lys Met Ala Ile Ile 290 295 300 Gly Ser Asn Gly Thr Gly Lys Thr Thr Phe Ile Lys Lys Ile Val His 305 310 315 320 Gly Asn Pro Gly Ile Ser Leu Ser Pro Ser Val Lys Ile Gly Tyr Phe 325 330 335 Ser Gln Lys Ile Asp Thr Leu Glu Leu Asp Lys Ser Ile Leu Glu Asn 340 345 350 Val Gln Ser Ser Ser Gln Gln Asn Glu Thr Leu Ile Arg Thr Ile Leu 355 360 365 Ala Arg Met His Phe Phe Arg Asp Asp Val Tyr Lys Pro Ile Ser Val 370 375 380 Leu Ser Gly Gly Glu Arg Val Lys Val Ala Leu Thr Lys Val Phe Leu 385 390 395 400 Ser Glu Val Asn Thr Leu Val Leu Asp Glu Pro Thr Asn Phe Leu Asp 405 410 415 Met Glu Ala Ile Glu Ala Phe Glu Ser Leu Leu Lys Glu Tyr Asn Gly 420 425 430 Ser Ile Ile Phe Val Ser His Asp Arg Lys Phe Ile Glu Lys Val Ala 435 440 445 Thr Arg Ile Met Thr Ile Asp Asn Lys Glu Ile Lys Ile Phe Asp Gly 450 455 460 Thr Tyr Glu Gln Phe Lys Gln Ala Glu Lys Pro Thr Arg Asn Ile Lys 465 470 475 480 Glu Asp Lys Lys Leu Leu Leu Glu Thr Lys Ile Thr Glu Val Leu Ser 485 490 495 Arg Leu Ser Ile Glu Pro Ser Glu Glu Leu Glu Gln Glu Phe Gln Asn 500 505 510 Leu Ile Asn Glu Lys Arg Asn Leu Asp Lys 515 520 50 1607 DNA Staphyloccocus CDS (39)..(923) CDS (947)..(1582) 50 aggagttttt gcgttcaaaa taattgggag gaatgtaa atg aat ttt tat tta gag 56 Met Asn Phe Tyr Leu Glu 1 5 gag ttt aac ttg tct att ccc gat tca ggt cca tac ggt ata act tca 104 Glu Phe Asn Leu Ser Ile Pro Asp Ser Gly Pro Tyr Gly Ile Thr Ser 10 15 20 tca gaa gac gga aag gta tgg ttc aca caa cat aag gca aac aaa atc 152 Ser Glu Asp Gly Lys Val Trp Phe Thr Gln His Lys Ala Asn Lys Ile 25 30 35 agc agt cta gat cag agt ggt agg ata aaa gaa ttc gaa gtt cct acc 200 Ser Ser Leu Asp Gln Ser Gly Arg Ile Lys Glu Phe Glu Val Pro Thr 40 45 50 cct gat gct aaa gtg atg tgt tta att gta tct tca ctt gga gac ata 248 Pro Asp Ala Lys Val Met Cys Leu Ile Val Ser Ser Leu Gly Asp Ile 55 60 65 70 tgg ttt aca gag aat ggt gca aat aaa atc gga aag ctc tca aaa aaa 296 Trp Phe Thr Glu Asn Gly Ala Asn Lys Ile Gly Lys Leu Ser Lys Lys 75 80 85 ggt ggc ttt aca gaa tat cca ttg cca cag ccg gat tct ggt cct tac 344 Gly Gly Phe Thr Glu Tyr Pro Leu Pro Gln Pro Asp Ser Gly Pro Tyr 90 95 100 gga ata acg gaa ggt cta aat ggc gat ata tgg ttt acc caa ttg aat 392 Gly Ile Thr Glu Gly Leu Asn Gly Asp Ile Trp Phe Thr Gln Leu Asn 105 110 115 gga gat cgt ata gga aag ttg aca gct gat ggg act att tat gaa tat 440 Gly Asp Arg Ile Gly Lys Leu Thr Ala Asp Gly Thr Ile Tyr Glu Tyr 120 125 130 gat ttg cca aat aag gga tct tat cct gct ttt att act tta ggt tcg 488 Asp Leu Pro Asn Lys Gly Ser Tyr Pro Ala Phe Ile Thr Leu Gly Ser 135 140 145 150 gat aac gca ctt tgg ttc acg gag aac caa aat aat tct att gga agg 536 Asp Asn Ala Leu Trp Phe Thr Glu Asn Gln Asn Asn Ser Ile Gly Arg 155 160 165 att aca aat aca ggg aaa tta gaa gaa tat cct cta cca aca aat gca 584 Ile Thr Asn Thr Gly Lys Leu Glu Glu Tyr Pro Leu Pro Thr Asn Ala 170 175 180 gcg gct cca gtg ggt atc act agt ggt aac gat ggt gca ctc tgg ttt 632 Ala Ala Pro Val Gly Ile Thr Ser Gly Asn Asp Gly Ala Leu Trp Phe 185 190 195 gtc gaa att atg ggc aac aaa ata ggt cga atc act aca act ggt gag 680 Val Glu Ile Met Gly Asn Lys Ile Gly Arg Ile Thr Thr Thr Gly Glu 200 205 210 att agc gaa tat gat att cca act cca aac gca cgt cca cac gct ata 728 Ile Ser Glu Tyr Asp Ile Pro Thr Pro Asn Ala Arg Pro His Ala Ile 215 220 225 230 acc gcg ggg aaa aat agc gaa ata tgg ttt act gaa tgg ggg gca aat 776 Thr Ala Gly Lys Asn Ser Glu Ile Trp Phe Thr Glu Trp Gly Ala Asn 235 240 245 caa atc ggc aga att aca aac gac aaa aca att caa gaa tat caa ctt 824 Gln Ile Gly Arg Ile Thr Asn Asp Lys Thr Ile Gln Glu Tyr Gln Leu 250 255 260 caa aca gaa aat gcg gaa cct cat ggt att acc ttt gga aaa gat gga 872 Gln Thr Glu Asn Ala Glu Pro His Gly Ile Thr Phe Gly Lys Asp Gly 265 270 275 tcc gta tgg ttt gca tta aaa tgt aaa att ggg aag ctg aat ttg aac 920 Ser Val Trp Phe Ala Leu Lys Cys Lys Ile Gly Lys Leu Asn Leu Asn 280 285 290 gaa tgagatggga gtgagcaata ttt atg aaa tgg caa aat cag caa ggc ccc 973 Glu Met Lys Trp Gln Asn Gln Gln Gly Pro 295 1 5 aat cca gaa gaa ata tac cct ata gaa ggt aat aaa cat gtt caa ttt 1021 Asn Pro Glu Glu Ile Tyr Pro Ile Glu Gly Asn Lys His Val Gln Phe 10 15 20 25 att aaa cca tct ata aca aag ccc aat att tta gtt ggg gaa tat tca 1069 Ile Lys Pro Ser Ile Thr Lys Pro Asn Ile Leu Val Gly Glu Tyr Ser 30 35 40 tat tac gat agt aaa gat ggt gaa tct ttt gaa agc caa gtt ctt tat 1117 Tyr Tyr Asp Ser Lys Asp Gly Glu Ser Phe Glu Ser Gln Val Leu Tyr 45 50 55 cac tat gaa ttg att ggg gat aaa cta ata tta ggg aag ttt tgt tct 1165 His Tyr Glu Leu Ile Gly Asp Lys Leu Ile Leu Gly Lys Phe Cys Ser 60 65 70 att gga ccc gga acg aca ttt ata atg aat ggg gct aat cat cgt atg 1213 Ile Gly Pro Gly Thr Thr Phe Ile Met Asn Gly Ala Asn His Arg Met 75 80 85 gat ggt tca aca ttt cca ttc aat ctt ttc gga aat ggt tgg gag aag 1261 Asp Gly Ser Thr Phe Pro Phe Asn Leu Phe Gly Asn Gly Trp Glu Lys 90 95 100 105 cat acc cct aca ttg gaa gac ctt cct tat aag ggt aac acg gaa att 1309 His Thr Pro Thr Leu Glu Asp Leu Pro Tyr Lys Gly Asn Thr Glu Ile 110 115 120 ggg aac gat gtt tgg att gga cga gat gtg aca att atg ccc ggt gta 1357 Gly Asn Asp Val Trp Ile Gly Arg Asp Val Thr Ile Met Pro Gly Val 125 130 135 aaa ata gga aac ggg gct att att gca gca aaa tcg gtt gtg aca aag 1405 Lys Ile Gly Asn Gly Ala Ile Ile Ala Ala Lys Ser Val Val Thr Lys 140 145 150 aac gtt gat cct tat tca gtt gtt ggc ggt aat cct tca cga tta att 1453 Asn Val Asp Pro Tyr Ser Val Val Gly Gly Asn Pro Ser Arg Leu Ile 155 160 165 aag ata agg ttt tcc aag gaa aaa atc gca gca tta cta aaa gta agg 1501 Lys Ile Arg Phe Ser Lys Glu Lys Ile Ala Ala Leu Leu Lys Val Arg 170 175 180 185 tgg tgg gac cta gag ata gag acg ata aat gaa aat att gat tgc atc 1549 Trp Trp Asp Leu Glu Ile Glu Thr Ile Asn Glu Asn Ile Asp Cys Ile 190 195 200 ctg aat ggt gat ata aaa aag gtt aaa aga agt tagaaaacga attttgttta 1602 Leu Asn Gly Asp Ile Lys Lys Val Lys Arg Ser 205 210 ggtta 1607 

What is claimed is:
 1. A purified polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: a) SEQ ID NO: 1 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 1 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides; b) SEQ ID NO: 2 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 2 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides; c) SEQ ID NO: 3 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 3 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides; d) SEQ ID NO: 11; e) SEQ ID NO: 12; f) SEQ ID NO: 13; and g) SEQ ID NO:
 14. 2. The purified polynucleotide according to claim 1 selected from the group consisting of: a) SEQ ID NO: 1 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 1 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides; b) SEQ ID NO: 2 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 2 containing 15 to 40 nucleotides; c) SEQ ID NO: 11; d) SEQ ID NO: 12; e) SEQ ID NO: 13; and f) SEQ ID NO:
 14. 3. A purified peptide encoded by a polynucleotide as claimed in claim
 1. 4. A purified peptide selected from the group consisting of: a) SEQ ID NO: 4 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 4 containing at least 10 amino acids; b) SEQ ID NO: 5 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 5 containing at least 10 amino acids; c) SEQ ID NO: 6 or a fragment derived from SEQ ID NO: 6 containing at least 10 amino acids; d) SEQ ID NO: 7; e) SEQ ID NO: 8; f) SEQ ID NO: 9; and g) SEQ ID NO:
 10. 5. A composition comprising at least one polypeptide encoded by a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of vgaB, vgbB, and vatC.
 6. A composition comprising at least one nucleotide sequence according to claim 1 that encodes resistance to streptogramins or induces streptogramin resistance in Gram-positive bacteria.
 7. The composition according to claim 6, wherein said composition comprises at least a nucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs conferring resistance to a streptogramin and at least one nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: a) a nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase that confers resistance to streptogramin A; and b) a nucleotide sequence encoding a lactonase that confers resistance to streptogramin B.
 8. The composition according to claim 6, wherein said composition comprises at least one nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase that confers resistance to a streptogramin and at least one nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs that confers resistance to streptogramin A; and b) a nucleotide sequence encoding a lactonase that confers resistance to streptogramin B.
 9. The composition according to claim 6, wherein said composition comprises at least one nucleotide sequence encoding a lactonase conferring resistance to a streptogramin and at least one nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a material containing ATP binding motifs that confers resistance to streptogramin A; and b) a nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase that confers resistance to streptogramin A.
 10. A composition comprising a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a molecule containing ATP binding motifs, which confer resistance to a streptogramin in Staphylococcus and wherein the polynucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of: a) SEQ ID NO: 1; b) a polynucleotide sequence having at least 70% of identity with SEQ ID NO: 1; c) a polynucleotide sequence hybridizing with said SEQ ID NO: 1 under stringent conditions or to a fragment containing between 20 and 30 nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 11 or SEQ ID NO: 12; d) a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a polypeptide having at least 60% homology with SEQ ID NO: 4; and e) a polynucleotide sequence having at least 80% homology with SEQ ID NO: 11 or SEQ ID NO:
 12. 11. A composition of claim 10, wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs confers resistance to a streptogramin in Staphylococcus aureus.
 12. A composition comprising a polynucleotide sequence that encodes an acetyltransferase, which confers resistance to a streptogramin in Staphylococcus and wherein the polynucleotide sequence is selected from the group of: a) SEQ ID NO: 2; b) a polynucleotide sequence having at least 70% of identity with SEQ. ID NO: 2; c) a polynucleotide sequence hybridizing with said SEQ ID NO: 2 under stringent conditions, or to a fragment of SEQ ID NO: 2 containing between 20 and 30 nucleotides, or to SEQ ID NO: 13 or SEQ ID NO: 14; d) a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a polypeptide sequence having at least 60% homology with SEQ ID NO: 5; and e) a polynucleotide sequence having 80% homology with SEQ ID NO: 13 or SEQ ID NO:
 14. 13. A composition of claim 12, wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase confers resistance to a streptogramin in Staphylococcus cohnii.
 14. A composition comprising a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a lactonase, which confers resistance to a streptogramin in Staphylococcus and wherein the polynucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of: a) SEQ ID NO: 3; b) a polynucleotide sequence having at least 70% of identity with SEQ ID NO: 3; c) a polynucleotide sequence hybridizing with said SEQ ID NO: 3 under stringent conditions, or to a fragment of said SEQ ID NO: 3 containing 20 to 40 nucleotides; and d) a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a polypeptide having at least 60% homology with SEQ ID NO:
 6. 15. A composition of claim 14, wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding a lactonase confers resistance to a streptogramin in Staphylococcus cohnii.
 16. A composition of polynucleotide sequences according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said composition comprises at least one nucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs conferring resistance to a streptogramin, and at least one nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase conferring resistance to a streptogramin.
 17. A composition of polynucleotide sequences according to claim 16, wherein said composition comprises at least one vgaB nucleotide sequence encoding a molecule containing ATP binding motifs conferring resistance to a streptogramin, and at least one vatC nucleotide sequence encoding an acetyltransferase conferring resistance to a streptogramin.
 18. A purified polynucleotide that hybridizes specifically under stringent conditions with a polynucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 13, and SEQ ID NO:
 14. 19. A polynucleotide fragment comprising at least 10 nucleotides that hybridizes under stringent conditions with a sequence according to claim 1 or the polynucleotide complementary fragment thereof.
 20. A polynucleotide fragment of claim 19, wherein said fragment is selected from the group consisting of: Oligo I: 5′-AAGTCGACTGACAATATGAGTGGTGG-3′; Oligo II: 5′-CTGCAGATGCCTCAACAGCATCGATATCC-3′; Oligo III: 5′-ATGAATTCGCAAATCAGCAAGG-3′; Oligo IV: 5′-TCGTCTCGAGCTCTAGGTCC-3′; Oligo V: 5′-CAGCAGTCTAGATCAGAGTGG-3′; and Oligo VI: 5′-CATACGGATCCACCTTTTCC-3′.


21. The polynucleotide fragment of claim 19, wherein said fragment is selected from the group consisting of: Oligo I: 5′-AAGTCGACTGACAATATGAGTGGTGG-3′; Oligo II: 5′-CTGCAGATGCCTCAACAGCATCGATATCC-3′; Oligo III: 5′-ATGAATTCGCAAATCAGCAAGG-3′; and Oligo IV: 5′-TCGTCTCGAGCTCTAGGTCC-3′.


22. A recombinant DNA molecule comprising at least one nucleotide sequence according to claim 1 under the control of regulatory elements that regulate the expression of resistance to antibiotics of the streptogramin family in a host.
 23. A recombinant vector comprising a plasmid pIP1633 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under Accession No. I-1768 or a plasmid pIP1714 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under Accession No. I-1877.
 24. A recombinant cell host comprising a polynucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 13, and SEQ ID NO: 14, or the recombinant vector of claim
 23. 25. A purified polypeptide or a peptide fragment having at least 10 amino acids, which is recognized by antibodies directed against a peptide encoded by a polynucleotide sequence conferring resistance to a streptogramin corresponding to a polynucleotide sequence according to claim
 1. 26. A polynucleotide comprising a full length coding sequence of a Staphylococcus streptogramin resistant gene containing a polynucleotide sequence according to claim
 1. 27. A monoclonal or polyclonal antibody directed against a polypeptide or a peptide fragment encoded by a polynucleotide sequence according to claim
 1. 28. A method of detecting a bacterium in a biological sample that harbors a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 1, said method comprising the steps of: a) contacting bacterial DNA of the biological sample with a primer or a probe according to claim 19 or 20, which hybridizes with a nucleotide sequence encoding resistance to streptogramins; b) amplifying the nucleotide sequence using said primer or said probe; and c) detecting a hybridized complex formed between said primer or probe and the DNA.
 29. A kit for detecting a bacterium that is resistant to a streptogramin and harbors a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 1, said kit comprising: a) a polynucleotide probe according to claim 19 or 20; and b) reagents to perform a nucleic acid hybridization reaction.
 30. A kit for detecting a bacterium that is resistant to a streptogramin and harbors a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 2, said kit comprising: a) a polynucleotide probe according to claim 19 or 20; and b) reagents to perform a nucleic acid hybridization reaction.
 31. A method of screening an active antibiotic for treating a Gram-positive bacterial infection, comprising the steps of: a) contacting the antibiotic with Gram-positive bacteria that are resistant to a streptogramin and contain a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 1; and b) determining the activity of the antibiotic on the bacteria.
 32. A method of screening for active synthetic molecules capable of penetrating into a bacteria of the staphylococci family, wherein an inhibiting activity of the molecules is tested on at least a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 1, the method comprising the steps of: a) contacting a sample of said active molecules with the bacteria; b) testing the capacity of the active molecules to penetrate into the bacteria and the capacity of inhibiting a bacterial culture at various concentration of the molecules; and c) choosing the active molecule that provides an inhibitory effect of at least 80% on the bacterial culture compared to an untreated culture.
 33. An in vitro method of screening for active molecules capable of inhibiting a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 1, said method comprising the steps of: a) contacting the active molecules with said polypeptide; b) testing the capacity of the active molecules, at various concentrations, to inhibit the activity of the polypeptide; and c) choosing the active molecule that provides an inhibitory effect of at least 80% on the activity of the said polypeptide.
 34. A composition of a polynucleotide sequence encoding resistance to streptogramins, or inducing resistance in Gram-positive bacteria, wherein said composition comprises a nucleotide sequence corresponding to a resistance phenotype of a plasmid selected from the group consisting of: a) plasmid pIP1633 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under Accession No. I-1768; b) plasmid pIP1680 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under Accession No. I-1767; and c) plasmid pIP1714 deposited with the C.N.C.M. under Accession No. I-1877.
 35. A method of detecting a bacterium in a biological sample that harbors a polynucleotide sequence according to claim 2, said method comprising the steps of: a) contacting said sample with an antibody according to claim 27 that recognizes a polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide sequences; and b) detecting a complex formed between the antibody and the polypeptide.
 36. A diagnostic kit for in vitro detection of a bacterium harboring the polynucleotide sequences according to claim 2, said kit comprising: a) a predetermined quantity of monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies according to claim 27; b) reagents to perform an immunological reaction between the antibodies and a polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide sequences; and c) reagents for detecting a complex formed between the antibodies and the polypeptide encoded by said polynucleotide sequences. 